“Even in this massive T-shirt of mine, you look gorgeous,” he whispered and pressed his cheek against mine. “Let me make you breakfast. I hope you like omelets.”
Still holding me, he stood up and carried me to the kitchen. My lips showered his neck with kisses for the entire journey. He put me down on a high stool by the worktop and started making breakfast.
“And now I’ll let you in on my secret plans for the day,” he said, turning to me for a quick wink and then continuing to stir the eggs.
I giggled and said, “You want us to roll in the sheets all day.”
His laughter, deep and sensual, washed over me like a hot wave. “That’s inevitable, babe, but first I want us to swim in the pool for a while. We can get some rays on the beach. It’s private, so there’ll be nobody to bother us. What do you say?” His eyes, blue like the clear sky outside, gazed into mine, while a panty-wetting smile flashed across his face.
“Who’d turn down such a tempting proposal?”
“I was hoping you’d say yes.”
The omelet was ready and served on the countertop. Ryan poured us some fruit juice and coffee, and we tucked in.
“Mm, delicious,” I paused to say and resumed chewing. I didn’t know what he’d put in the eggs, but they were simply scrumptious.
“I’m glad you like them. Omelets are one of the few things I can cook.”
I examined the modern kitchen, fully equipped with all appliances needed to craft any meal, and wondered whether he had a chef. Ryan was more than rich enough to afford one. But even he did have house staff, I hadn’t seen any of them. They probably came on weekdays.
His house was very modern, but bright colors were conspicuously missing from it. Everything was in white, black or grey. Even the pictures on the wall were devoid of anything colorful.
In this regard, we were very different.
I had no experience of men’s taste in interior decoration. My brother was only thirteen and my grandfather had left my grandmother furnish our house in France as she saw fit. The only man I’d lived with was Travis, who occasionally wore colorful T-shirts and had a number of blue and green bed sheets.
Whereas Ryan didn’t dare touch anything colorful.
What then did he like about me?
I was like a fresh rainbow. That might sound funny, but it’s true. Ryan, on the other hand, came from the dark, cloudy side of the sky.
I didn’t manage to contain my curiosity and asked, “I see you’re not into bright colors, yet you tell me you’re strongly attracted to me. How is that possible?”
He wiped his lips with a napkin before replying. “Emily, I’ve never given it a moment’s thought.” He regarded the black granite worktop, black leather chairs and white cupboards in the kitchen.
He raised my arm and kissed my hand. This minor gesture warmed me from head to toe.
“What attracts me to you is the full package. You’re like a diamond that shines in all the colors of the rainbow. Starting from your bright red hair and moving onto your clothes… When I gaze at all those bright colors you wear, something in my soul starts to shine. If you don’t like the furniture in my house, we can buy new stuff.”
I leaned toward him and caressed his face. “Ryan, I don’t live here and—”
“We can rearrange that very quickly,” he interrupted me and gave me that smile of his again.
I looked away from him—he was smiling at me in a way that could persuade me to do anything. And he knew it. But it was far too early for me to consider our living together. “It’d be enough for me if you let me get you a colorful T-shirt or two. Blue will make your eyes pop even more.”
“I’ll only say that you already have me on my knees and can convince me of anything.” His big hand slid under my T-shirt and cupped my breast. He started to massage it, gently pulling at the now-erect nipple. A soft moan escaped from my lips when Ryan leaned in and bit my earlobe.
“Do you feel it, babe? What we have between us is too strong,” he murmured, running his lips along the outline of my jaw.
I let my head fall back to give him better access to my neck. “Ryan…”
How could I be so insatiable?
“I want to make you scream my name again, Emily.”
Yes, that’s what I wanted, too. For him to fill me with his hard manhood and take me to the happy end. To fill me with his release and to remain merged together forever.
Just when Ryan was about to get on with the job of fulfilling my wishes, my cell phone started to ring loudly from the dining table, where I’d left it last night. This couldn’t have happened at a worse time.
“Let it ring. I want you, babe.” Ryan bit my lower lip and his tongue slid into my mouth.
The damn phone stopped ringing and then immediately started again. Stop and start, again and again…
Unwillingly, I pulled away from his kiss, my knees now soft like jelly. “It’s probably something urgent. I have to answer it.”
He knitted his eyebrows and pressed me even tighter to him.
“I’ll see who it is. In the meantime, go wait for me in the bedroom… But I don’t want to see these boxers when I join you,” I said as I pulled them down and wrapped my fingers around his huge cock, which was highly erect and barely fit into the cotton material.
“With great pleasure.” He gave me a peck and slapped my butt. “Be quick.”
I checked the display. It was Debby, Jamie’s mother. Fearing the worst, I accepted the call with shaking fingers.
“Jamie’s in the hospital,” Debby cried out, her despondent voice making my fully relaxed body turn hard and tight at once.
“What happened? Which hospital are you in?”
While she was telling me the address, I dashed into the bedroom and started ransacking my bag, looking for my wallet.
“I’m coming right over. You can tell me what happened when I get there. And please try to calm down. You have to stay strong for Jamie. He needs you.”
I ended the call and stinging tears welled up in my eyes, threatening to erupt. I hadn’t even noticed Ryan was next to me, embracing me with his powerful arms.
“Emily, what happened?”
The knot in my throat became bigger, choking me and resulting in the inevitable sobs. I didn’t manage to withstand the tension and started weeping, with my life playing across my eyes like a film reel. My brother had been so young when he was first admitted to the hospital, exactly a month before his fifth birthday. Jamie had become diabetic at the same age as Fabien. And for two years, he’d been fighting this damn sugar disease.
“Shush… Please don’t cry,” Ryan said to console me, caressing me the entire time.
I wiped my nose with the back of my hand and whispered to myself, “I have to be strong. Tears never helped anyone. Jamie needs to see me strong.”
“What’s happened?”
I took a few gulps of air, trying to overcome my sobs. “I need to go to the hospital. I’ll call a taxi.”
“You don’t need a taxi. I’ll drive you there.”
I looked at him and, seeing his concerned expression, it was as if my heart expanded from the love I felt for him.
14
Ryan
“Is this how we’re getting there?” Emily said, looking at my Harley as if it were some kind of monster. “Why don’t we take one of your sports cars? This one, for example,” she added, pointing at the Mercedes.
“Because the bike will get us there much quicker. Come on, babe. You’ll like it.” I helped her climb on the seat. It was obvious from her eyes that she was afraid.
“I won’t let anything bad happen to you. Do you trust me?” She nodded and I gave her a peck on the lips before putting her helmet on.
I’d never given a woman a ride on my bike before, and now I felt real pleasure, sensing Emily’s body and thighs pressed tight against me, her arms wrapped around my waist. I wanted us to go on for a long drive, travelling the roads of Florida. As free as birds, enjoying
the sea breeze. But unlike me, she was preoccupied with worried thoughts about Jamie. I fully understood her concerns, but some instinct told me the boy would be perfectly fine.
Fortunately, once we’d reached the hospital, it didn’t take us long to find out which room they’d put him in. Emily was just about to knock on the door, when Debby came out of the room. She threw herself at Emily, huge tears rolling down her cheeks.
“Thank you for coming,” she said, trying to speak between sobs.
“What happened? Debbie, tell me now. The worry is killing me.” Emily had turned pale.
“Jamie caught some stomach bug at school. He was throwing up and didn’t want to eat. His blood sugar levels were all over the place—low one hour, high the next. This morning, I injected him with insulin, and while I was taking a shower, he…” Debbie tapered off and started crying again.
Emily was barely holding back her tears, when she asked her, “What happened? Talk to me… Please. I’m worried sick. Is he okay?”
Debbie blew her nose into a tissue and replied, “He’s fine now. Thank God, he’s okay.”
I could no longer stand the tension and interjected, “What happened?”
“When I came out of the bathroom, I found him unconscious on the floor of his bedroom.” Debbie bit her lip to stop them from trembling. “I can’t describe the horror I felt. He seemed dead. I don’t know how I mustered the strength to go to the kitchen and take the emergency injection from the fridge. I administered it and dialed 911 straight after.”
Emily gently caressed her shoulder. “How is he? Can I see him?”
“He’s asleep, exhausted from everything the world has thrown at him.”
I couldn’t refrain from interjecting again. “What did the doctors say? Is what happened normal? Why did he faint?”
Debbie stopped tearing the already-ripped tissue and regarded me. “Jamie had high blood sugar, so I had to give him a bigger dose of insulin to lower it. I left him to eat his breakfast, but he hadn’t eaten all of it. The doctors said other kids also fainted in the same circumstances. It happens. They said it wasn’t my fault, but that brings me no comfort… It was a mistake to leave him on his own. Why did I give him the insulin injection before breakfast, knowing he was ill and might not finish his food? Why?” She started weeping again.
“Please, Debbie, don’t cry. You’ll make me cry, too.” Emily hugged her tight.
Fuck, this diabetes thing turned out to be much nastier than I’d thought. I used to think it wasn’t that big of a deal. You give yourself an insulin injection to offset carbs and job done. But it all turned out to be much more complicated, especially in kids. I didn’t want to consider what parents whose babies became ill with diabetes had to go through. I didn’t have a kid, but could imagine what it meant to have a small, precious creature, who had an incurable disease. It must be a complete nightmare.
Luckily, the irreversible hadn’t happened to Jamie. The emergency injection had done its job properly. Otherwise, he could’ve died or, at best, woken up with brain damage.
The nurse who was looking after Jamie recognized me and let us wait in some VIP lounge reserved for special occasions. Emily ran off to the nearest store, leaving me to wait for her in the lounge. I went out for a smoke. The nicotine relieved the tension I felt whenever I wasn’t with my girl.
My redhead came back with gifts for Jamie. She’d bought him a Lego ship set and a cream teddy bear. I wasn’t sure if he’d be impressed by the plush toy, but then again, what did I know about children?
When Jamie woke up, we went into his room. He was lying on the hospital bed, with an IV inserted in his arm and heart monitor electrodes stuck to his puny chest.
Fuck, my stomach twisted in pain. I’d lost my faith in God at a tender age, but I asked myself the clichéd question for the umpteenth time: If He existed, why did He let young children suffer?
A faint smile appeared on Jamie’s face and the corners of his eyes narrowed.
“How do you feel?” Emily asked him worriedly, after she’d hugged and kissed him on the cheek.
“I feel fine, but the doctors are going over the top. They said I had to wait until tomorrow to go home, which is too long.”
I went over to him and gently messed up his hair. “I’m glad to see you’re much better now. You gave us quite a scare, kid.”
I handed him the present and he asked what it was even though he’d already guessed the contents of the package. “Open it and you’ll see.”
He ripped off the wrapping paper and his smile became even wider. I remembered how excited I used to get when I got a Christmas or birthday present. The gifts were never expensive, because Mom didn’t have money, but even a small car would fill my young heart with great happiness.
“Ryan… This set is amazing. I’ve always wanted to have a set like it. Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. Emily bought it.”
“Thank you very much.” The love and gratitude he expressed was stunning. He tried to push himself up from the bed, but Emily told him not to do it, so the IV wouldn’t come out of his arm.
The door opened and in came a small blonde-haired girl in a wheelchair pushed by her mother. The child was really skinny, with long curly hair like a doll. Her mother lifted her and placed her on the bed. Then, she covered the girl with a blanket, kissed her on the cheek and sat on the chair next to her.
The girl gave me an appraising look and turned to her mother. “Mom, that man over there is the same as the one on the poster stuck on the wall in Robin’s room.” She clearly meant to whisper the words, but it didn’t work and everybody heard her.
Her mother stared at me and blushed. “Amy, you must be mistaken.”
“She’s not. That’s Ryan Wilder, the lead singer of Blackstone and my best friend,” Jamie boasted and I barely managed to contain my smile.
The little girl wasn’t impressed by his words in the slightest. She probably wasn’t interested in rockers. Plush toys appeared to be more her bag. Looking at the teddy bear in awe, she said, “You have a very pretty teddy. What’s his name?”
Jamie looked over to Emily, “Is it okay if I give it to her?”
“Of course,” Emily murmured and smiled at him.
“I think you deserve this more than I do. Do you want it, Amy?”
“You’re giving me your teddy bear?” The little blonde was deeply touched by Jamie’s act of gallantry.
“Yes, it’s yours. If you want, you can name it after him, Ryan.” He looked at me and chuckled. “Your brother will lose his mind when he finds out.”
Sick or healthy, kids will be kids.
She, however, wasn’t convinced about the name. “Is it a male bear?”
“I think so. Emily would never give me some girl’s toy as a present.”
I took the teddy and brought it to the little cutie. Her eyes stared at me with a mixture of awe and fear. “My brother has many posters of your band. He’s a big fan of yours. If he knew you were here, he wouldn’t have gone to school.”
Everyone in the room laughed in concert with me. “In that case, we’re glad he didn’t know. School’s important and shouldn’t be missed.”
“Dad always says that, too.” A sweet, unaffected giggle escaped from her young lips. “Robin wants to be a captain of a ship when he grows up and I want to write children’s books. Sometimes being unable to walk makes me really sad. I want to run and jump like other kids. Still, I can at least move my arms, so I can write and draw.” She paused to adjust the teddy bear’s T-shirt and kiss it, then continued, “Whenever I feel really sad, I remind myself about my friend, Becky. She has cancer and might die even though she’s really young. That’s horrible, much more horrible than not being able to get around without a wheelchair. Because I can grow up and even get old, whereas she…” Amy hugged the teddy, its head snuggling in her thin neck.
A tight knot appeared in my throat. This girl was young, but very mature for her age. I’d heard from Emily that ma
ny sick children outlive their peers, because they constantly have to deal with the difficulties posed by their illnesses and learn to fight and live with their problems.
“I have diabetes,” Jamie said, his voice jolting me out of my thoughts. “There was a mishap and I lost consciousness, so I have to spend the night in the hospital. While we’re here, do you want to put together that Lego set with me?”
How easy it was for children to strike a friendship. Only if it were so easy for adults.
That day spent in the hospital stayed with me forever and changed something inside me. Before it, I used to think I wouldn’t be able to cope with parental duties, that I’d be a failure like my father. Not that I would ever hit a child. I simply thought I wasn’t meant to be a parent. Now, however, I no longer believed that. Being around those little children turned out to be nowhere near as bad as I’d thought.
Before we left the pediatric hospital, I inquired how many children it accommodated. Emily and I then went to the nearest store, where I bought toys for every child.
All I wanted was to raise a smile. I hoped they’d be able to forget, if only for an instant, their illnesses and responsibilities and simply be children.
15
Emily
When we came out of the hospital, the sun was setting on the horizon, coloring the sky in pink and orange hues. The light breeze coming from the ocean cooled the air. I felt exhausted from my recent worries.
Taking the helmet out of Ryan’s hand, I was just about to put it on, when a woman’s voice drew my attention. I looked over my shoulder and saw a beautiful blonde, dressed in jeans and a cream silk, sleeveless blouse, waving at Ryan. As she approached us, her features came into focus and I realized she was a complete knockout—high cheekbones, thick lips and hair styled like Marilyn Monroe’s. Mike, Blackstone’s manager, was walking beside her, hand in hand.
Ryan put his arm around my shoulder, unconsciously holding me tighter than usual. His lips formed a straight line. The tension emanating from his body made the air around us heavy with heat.