17: Why?

I couldn’t believe it had been found. When Hadley stole my mom’s necklace I was sure it was gone for good. When the detective working my case gave it back I was relieved. I was also a snot sobbing, ugly crying mess. The day he’d come to the house I had explained the significance of that one thing. It was the only thing I cared about getting back.

“Would it be possible for me to see her?” I asked the detective. It was probably an unexpected request, but I wanted to know why she had done it. Was it spite? Did she never care? Was I just an easy mark to her? I had to know so I could put it behind me and get on with my life.

“We don’t normally allow that kind of thing, Miss Stackhouse,” he told me.

“What about after she’s booked in and processed? I doubt she’s going to make bail.” Then again, maybe she had someone willing to finance her bond. I didn’t know for sure. Hadley had played me once, so maybe she wasn’t as destitute as she wanted me to believe.

He sighed as he looked at me for a moment.

“I’ll take you to an interrogation room.”

“Really? I just have one question I want to ask her. I’ll be quick,” I promised. I followed Detective Lattesta down a series of hallways to one of the interrogation rooms.

Inside the room looked like any other conference room, minus the cameras and the obvious two way mirror at the back of the room. I took a seat at the table and waited. It took about ten minutes for Detective Lattesta to come back. Hadley was looking rough as ever, and shackled at her wrists and ankles. She froze when she saw me.

“I just have one question and I’d really like an honest answer no matter how awful it is. Why? Why did you do it?” I asked.

“Because I could,” she answered.

“That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

I couldn’t tell if that was the truth, but if it was, it was fucked up.

“Good luck in jail. You’re going to need it,” I said to her.

“It’s a place to sleep and no man to fuck with me. It’s a fucking vacation,” Hadley replied.

“It’s really sad you feel that way. I would have done anything to help you and you fucking stabbed me in the heart.”

“That’s life,” she shrugged.

Heartless bitch.

I couldn’t believe she was really saying that to me.

“I’m done. Goodbye, Hadley,” I said.

She fucking flipped me off before she was led away.

Wow.

I got up from the table and walked out of the police station with my head held high. I’d gotten some of my belongings back. Hadley was off the street. Hopefully she’d get some help. If she was the manipulative nutbag she was coming off as, I hoped she would be locked up for a long time. Society was safer with her locked away.

When I got to the car I called Kennedy. It was late enough that she should have been awake. I wanted her to meet Henry. Our new baby was still adjusting to life at our house, but he was loving all the attention he got from me. I took him out with me whenever I could. We walked around the neighborhood twice a day, which was helpful in keeping my ass in good shape. I didn’t miss dancing.

The week after my meltdown I had quit. I wasn’t sure what the hell I wanted to do, but I didn’t want to dance anymore. Things with Eric were good, and I felt weird about grinding on strangers when my man was at home waiting for me. For the first time in my life I felt like I could be normal. I probably wouldn’t ever be the Florence Henderson type, but I could see myself settling down and having a couple of rad kids. A little boy with a funky mohawk and a daughter who ran around in a tutu and chucks. Yeah, definitely not conventional, but it could work.

So as I headed for the highway I called my bestie. For the first time in my life I had one of those too. She officially earned that rank when I had to help her with a diaphragm debacle two weeks prior. We promised to never speak of it again.

“Hey, Chica,” she answered.

“Holla! Guess what.”

“Hmm, you know I’m no good at this game,” she snickered. “Eric asked you to marry him?”

“Ha! No, my fingers are still ringless. My neck, however, has been reunited with an old friend. Hadley’s been arrested.”

“What!? No way!” she squealed. “That’s the best news, Sookie!”

“I know! Dude, she kicked a cop in the face. So on top of the burglary charges she’s also been charged with resisting arrest and assault of a police officer,” I told her.

“That’s amazing. She’s such a dumbass and she deserves anything that’s comin’ at her.”

“The detective let me talk to her for a minute. You wanna know why she did?” I still couldn’t believe it.

“Did she have a lame ass excuse, or was it worth your time?”

“She said she did it because she could.”

“Ugh, she deserves to have every bad thing in the world that can happen, happen to her.”

“You know, as mad as I am and as much as I hate that answer, I still want her to get it together. She thinks jail is a vacation, Kennedy. That’s just sad to me.” Being locked in some tiny, filthy room for months and years didn’t sound like fun to me.

“You wish that because no matter what she’s family and you’re a really good person,” she said.

“I can still see the little girl she used to be. I know that girl is long gone, but I guess I just think about how many times I’ve fucked up and how I wished I could have had a second chance, you know? Fuck, I almost dumped Eric over her. Well, not over her exactly but it was fallout from her. He’s the only person who ever even tried to fight for me. I don’t know if Hadley’s ever had that. I don’t know if the things she told me were true or not. I hope she’s not going to miss out on most of her son’s life because she’s in prison. At the same time I hope that being there makes her take a long, hard look at her life so she makes better choices in the future.” It wasn’t up to me whether or not she chose a different path in the future. I hoped she would.

“Only time will tell,” Kennedy sighed.

“I was going to pick up my other boyfriend if you want to meet him,” I offered. I’d sent tons of pictures of Henry to her since we brought him home.

“Heck yeah I want to meet him. Has Eric gotten jealous yet?”

“Not yet. Henry loves him too. We took him to the dog park yesterday and he had fun playing with one of those tugging toys with Eric.” Eric was lifting Henry off the ground with him attached to the rope thing. They were a good match for that kind of play. Henry came to me for cuddles.

“You guys sound pretty domestic. I’m so happy for you.” I could hear the smile in her voice. “I told you he was a good man.”

“You were right. Okay, I’m going to get Mr. Rollins and I’ll text you when I get to your place.”

“I’ll be waiting.”

I hung up and made the turn to get on the freeway. I groaned at the sight of all the traffic. Fucking LA.

XXX

I actually ended up getting home after Eric. He was working on a late dinner when I walked in. Henry went straight to him, looking for someone to wrestle with. I was chopped liver to him right then.

“Hi,” I laughed. Eric dropped what he was doing to greet the dog. Within seconds he was on the floor, putting Henry in a playful headlock.

“Hi,” he replied. He growled with the dog, riling Henry up even more. “Do you mind whisking the sauce?”

“Sure.” I dropped my purse on the counter and stepped over the two growling critters on the floor. They were cute together. The Alfredo sauce smelled phenomenal. I whisked it while the boys played.

Eric got up after a few minutes. He wrapped his strong arms around me from behind as he leaned down to kiss my neck. He reached up with one hand to touch the necklace.

“Looks good on your neck, Lover.”

“I’m never taking it off. I never should have before.” I turned my head to kiss him hello. “How was the shoot?”

“It was a good shoot today. We’re going back in the morning to finish the scene, but I should be out before noon.” He reached for his phone on the counter. Eric unlocked it and went to his gallery. “She was thinking of you when she did this.” Eric pressed play on a video of Tawny playing with herself.

“She’s stepping up her game,” I said. Tawny was a beautiful girl. She was blonde, which seemed to be Eric’s type based on the few pictures of exes he had in old albums and whatnot. He liked blondes with big tits. Tawny fit the bill.

“She is. We self-fluffed talking about you,” he chuckled. “She reminded me about the AVNs. You’re going to get to come if you’re interested.”

“The porn Oscars? When is that?” I hadn’t even thought about it, but I knew it existed and it was a huge deal in the industry.

“The last weekend in January. I haven’t looked at the dates this year,” he told me. “You’re going to look damn good on my arm.”

“I’m going to have to go gown shopping. Is it in Vegas again?” I knew from watching it on Showtime in previous years that the folks in the porn industry took it very seriously. The idea of my man in a nice suit made me a little wet, if I was being honest.

“It is. Maybe I can talk Ras into taking Kennedy if you want her to come too.”

“Ooooh! Yes, that would be so much fun!” I was pretty sure Kennedy would be down to come along.

“You know, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, right?” he smirked before he leaned down again to nibble my neck. “You can turn the sauce off.”

“So maybe I’ll have too much champagne and get super high so Tawny can finally get her lips on mine,” I suggested.

“As long as I get to watch,” he purred.

“Of course you would get to watch. I’d even let you fuck her while she did it.” I knew there were no romantic feelings there between them.

“It would be like living in your own real life porn movie,” he smiled as he rubbed his hands over my tits.

“Yes it would. Dinner smells amazing, by the way.” Eric didn’t know it, but with his birthday coming up I had been making some arrangements.

Mostly I was teaching myself how to cook his favorite meal. Cheesesteaks and handcut fries was the dinner plan for his birthday. Henry was enjoying being my taste tester. I was going to test my abilities on Kennedy and Rasul because I trusted them to tell me if it sucked or not. The cheesesteaks were pretty easy but the fries were a little harder to get right. I double fried the fries to get them good and crispy. I knew he liked them a little more on the well done side, so it took several batches before I thought I got it right. I was excited to surprise him with it. Cooking was probably never going to be my strong suit, but I could at least cut an onion without him wincing.

“Thank you. I felt like we needed something substantial tonight. I was also expecting to find my gorgeous lover naked,” he chuckled. “Go take a seat. I’ll put together a bowl for you.”

“I took the boy to meet Auntie Kennedy,” I explained. “She wanted to keep him.”

“She’d have to fight me for him. Not happening,” he said. He poured the noodles into the sauce so he could mix it all together.

“He was pretty cozy on the couch with her until I asked if he wanted to go see Daddy. He jumped off the couch like bye Felicia, and ran to the door,” I chuckled.

“That’s my boy,” Eric grinned. He filled two bowls with the pasta and then layered grilled chicken on top of it. “For you, my dear.” He handed me one of the bowls.

“Thank you, baby.” I set my bowl on the counter and went to the fridge to get some water. “Want a beer?”

“Please.” He reached up into the cabinet to get one of Henry’s treats down. He always got a treat at dinner time.

“So… I saw Hadley at the police station. Detective Lattesta let me talk to her for a minute.” I brought our drinks to the island, and then grabbed my bowl from the counter. Henry was good at doing some kind of trick to earn his treat. Tonight it was doing donuts.

“Did she apologize for being a cunt?”

“Of course not. She did tell me why she did what she did.”

“I’m guessing it wasn’t because she’s an epic cow that was jealous of you,” he said. He joined me at the island with his bowl and two pieces of garlic bread.

“She did it because she could,” I told him.

“Because she’s a fuckin’ cunt,” he sighed. “All that matters now is that you have your necklace back.”

“I got a few things back. She had a dozen necklaces, a few rings and a bunch of earrings on her when they picked her up,” I told him.

“Hopefully she’s learned her lesson. I have a feeling she’ll have plenty of time to reflect on her actions.”

“Oh yeah, I think that’s a safe bet. If nothing else she’ll get nailed for kicking the cop. Honestly if the district attorney offered her a plea deal I’d be okay with it,” I said as I twirled pasta around my fork. “I just want to put this behind me and move on. I don’t want to dwell on it and get sucked back into it every few months, you know?”

“Then we should be happy for what we have and let it go,” he said, reaching over to rub my thigh. “Today is a win for you.”

“Yeah, it was. I feel like I can move on now,” I admitted.

Henry was good about not begging while we ate. He was ecstatic when Eric put some leftover chicken in his bowl. Henry only got people food when he was being exceptionally good, and since he’d dropped Kennedy like a hot potato, Daddy was feeling generous. Eric and I cleaned up together. It didn’t take long at all to get the dishes done.

“So… what should we do now?” I asked. He was bent over putting a cookie sheet away so I snapped a towel at his ass, making him growl playfully.

“If I remember correctly my lover promised me to be naked, wearing nothing but a gorgeous necklace.”

“Was that a promise or just a possibility?”

“I considered it a promise.” He turned and started to stalk toward me, giving me The Look.

“Too bad you didn’t make that clear at the time,” I smirked, backing up. Too bad I backed myself into the corner. Oops.

“Sookie, you know anytime nudity is involved I consider it a promise.” He pressed his hands against the wall next to my head. His long, lean body rubbed up against me.

“That must be in the fine print of our rental agreement.”

“Mmhmm, you should have read it better.” His hands dropped. He grabbed onto my ass so he could lift me up, pressing me against the wall. I could feel how hard he was getting.

“I probably should have. Anything else in the fine print I should be aware of?”

“Hmm, I’m sure there is but as you can feel my blood is busy rushing out of my brain.” He rocked his hips, rubbing himself against me.

“It’s pretty hard to miss. Is there some sort of penalty for failing to keep my naked promise?” I could play along with him. It was sexy when he got a little rough and caveman-like.

“What do you think an appropriate penalty would be?”

“I’m guessing you wouldn’t go for orgasms,” I sighed. “How about the loss of underwear for a week?”

“I actually kinda like that idea,” he chuckled. His hand slipped so he could rub his fingers up and down my slit. Eric pushed my panties out of the way so he could feel how wet I was getting. “If I didn’t get off on watching you cum I’d take your orgasms away for the night.”

I gasped and said, “That would be mean. I’d have to go do it myself in the tub.”

“Nope. You wouldn’t be able to get yourself off if I penalized you with no orgasms. Take my dick out, Lover.” One of his thick fingers slipped forward, rubbing over my clit.

“I’d cheat,” I informed him without a hint of shame. My fingers tugged his zipper down. His cock sprang right out, ready to go.

“Someone likes being a bad girl,” he growled in his deep sex voice. He lifted me a little higher. “Put me where you want me.”

“You like it when I’m a bad girl.” I put his tip at my entrance and rocked my hips a little bit. I couldn’t move too much.

“Mmm, you know I do.” He held me in place as he thrust forward, filling me completely. His hips stilled when he was buried deep inside of me. “One day I want to record us fucking.”

“I’d let you.” I trusted him to keep it private.

“Maybe next time.” He started to slowly pump his hips. “Mmm, maybe in Vegas…”

Maybe for your birthday…

“Would you like being able to watch Tawny eat my pussy over and over again?” Duh. Of course he would.

“Fuck, I’d watch it every fuckin’ day,” he said. He rested his forehead on mine as he sped up, pulling almost all the way out before he filled me again.

“Would you like it if I went down on her?”

“It would be so damn hot, Sookie. I want to see your sweet tongue licking up and down through her wet pussy. She would get so, so wet for you…”

“Mmm… with your big dick driving into me from behind while I did it,” I moaned. His hips moved a little faster. “Yeah, just like that, baby. Oh fuck…”

“You want that, Sookie?” he breathed. He started fucking me harder, making my hips bounce off of the wall. “You want to feel me fucking you, slapping your perfect ass while you suck on that sweet little clit?”

“Mmm… mmhmmm,” I hummed. “And when you cum deep in my pussy I’ll let her lick up our mess.”

“Keep talking like that and I’m going cum before I’m ready,” he panted. “And then I’m going to call her to come clean up the mess.”

“Not tonight. Tonight you’re all mine,” I told him.

“Yes, dear.” Eric pulled out and set me on my feet. He turned me around to face the wall, pulled my hips out, and drove into me from behind. His fingertips dug into my hips, holding me in place as he fucked me so hard his hips slapped against my ass again and again.

“Yesyesyesyes,” I chanted softly. His cock rubbed against my g-spot every time he pulled out. I wanted something to grab onto but that wasn’t happening against the smooth wall.

His long, nimble fingers found my clit and within seconds I was cumming hard for him. He grunted and kept thrusting through my orgasm. It amazed me that he could keep going after the kind of work he’d been doing all day. His big hand wrapped around my throat and he whispered some filthy things in my ear, making my pussy grip him a little tighter. It didn’t take much longer for him to finish. There were no cameras around, at least for now, waiting to catch the cum shot.

Besides, he preferred cumming in me instead of on me.

“I love you, baby,” I whispered as he pressed kisses to the back of my neck. I didn’t know if he knew, but he was the first man I’d said it to and meant it.

“I love you too,” he replied between kisses.

He had just pulled out of me and turned me around for a kiss on the lips when the house started to shake.