Chapter 11

Tulips...the flowers of love

Ch. 11

It was rough getting back into the groove of things on the road.  The first road trip of the season was always a tough one, but I think it made it even harder that I was having my first road trip a couple months into the season.  Everyone already had themselves in their own schedules and I had to figure out where I fit in.  I was stuck in a room with one of the rookies, Matt Beleksey, who was a good kid, but he had some odd habits that I frankly found annoying.  The biggest one was sleeping with the TV turned onto Lifetime where they showed old episodes of the Golden Girls.

“Dude, I have to figure out how we can be roomies again,” I whined quietly to Bobby as we sat at breakfast.  “If I have to hear one more sexual innuendo from Rose on the Golden Girls, I’m going to go AWOL.”

“I thought you liked the Golden Girls…” Bobby chuckled as he took another spoonful of his eggs.

“It’s not funny,” I growled.

“You’re older than him so just put your foot down.  You never seemed to have a problem pulling the age rank thing on me.”

“I’m just afraid if I say anything right now, I might come across as a real ass and I don’t want to put the poor kid through it,” I said honestly as I ran my hands over my face.  I was tired and I was even more miserable about what I left behind in Anaheim.

“Have you talked to her at all?” Bobby asked.

I looked up at him through my fingers and just shook my head back and forth.  “No, I think we need this week to cool off.  Plus, I want to give her some space with the whole Evan thing,” I said slowly, trying to get myself to believe that I was doing the right thing.

“Why couldn’t you be understanding in the first place, you stupid ass?” Bobby asked without holding back.

“So you think I took the whole dishonesty thing a little tougher than I should have?”

Bobby took a breath, wiped his mouth with his napkin and set it down before answering me.  “Dude, I know you’ve been with a lot of slutty, lying girls over the past several years but Avery is not even close to being like any of those girls.  I can understand that the situation seems a little fucked up on the outside, but you have to remember that mothers do whatever they need to do to protect their little ones.  I can’t even imagine being in Avery’s shoes.  So you have every right for being hurt, but to just walk away from it all and throw in the rag is just a weak cop-out; especially since I’m pretty sure you were in love with her and Sofia.”

Bobby was a couple years younger than me, but he seemed to know a hell of a lot more about life than I did.  So, whenever he gave advice, I tried to listen with open ears and really think about his words.  “Should I call her now?”

“Um, I probably would…”

I found it pathetic that I had to be told to call the woman I had fallen in love with.  I had basically turned my back on her, waking her up from the dream I had promised wasn’t a dream.  Way to go asshole.

“That was a really good dinner,” Evan said to my Nana as he relaxed back in the kitchen chair, patting his stomach.  “Thank you, Nana,” he said with a charming smile as she came around behind him and kissed him on the head.  It was Thursday and Evan had basically been living at my apartment, spending a ton of time with the three of us.  It was almost as if Joffrey had never been.  Too bad my heart tells me different.

It probably should have bothered me how easily my little girl took to strange men.  Sofia was completely enthralled with Evan to the point that he would have to put her to bed every night and read her bedtime stories.  After he would put her down, we would go for a walk and talk about the plans we both had for her.  Not only were we working on the new relationship between him and Sofia, but we were also working on our rekindled friendship.  Or at least that is what I thought we were working on together…

“So, I was wondering if you’d be interested in going out with me tomorrow night,” he asked while we sat on the park bench in the cool evening air.  His hands were interlaced with mine, which had become the norm for us this past week, but I never thought of it as anything romantic.  It was more of a comfort thing for me.

I looked over to find him looking at me with an easy smile.  “Go where?”

“I don’t know. I was going to take you out to a nice dinner, maybe catch a band or something…”

“A date?”

“Sure,” he said with a wink.

“I don’t know if that would be a good idea,” I said slowly.  “I don’t want Sofia getting the wrong idea about us,” I said plainly.

As soon as the words were out of my mouth he was leaning in towards me and his hand was caressing my cheek.  “What if it wasn’t the wrong idea?”

His hand was warm, yet the electric current that I always felt when Joffrey touched me was not there in Evan’s hands.  “I think it would be,” I said quietly.  “I was in love with you a while back, but unfortunately we all grow up and find that maybe there are others out there for us.  4-5 years ago I longed to hear you say you still wanted to be with me so that we could be a big happy family, but I think there is someone else I long to hear those words from now,” I said honestly.

I saw a look of sadness pass through Evan’s beautiful eyes, but it was quickly replaced by a look of understanding.  “You’re in love with Lupul.”

I rolled my eyes as a stupid smirk forced its way onto my face, without my permission.  “Yeah, I think I am.  I just hope he still wants me, especially since I haven’t been answering his phone calls…” I said as I faded off.

“Why didn’t you answer him?  Didn’t you learn the first time about not calling or not answering phone calls?  Are you retarded when it comes to phone communication or something?”

I snorted, “I didn’t think I was, but now that you’ve said something… Ugh, I dunno Evan! I just haven’t answered him because I didn’t know what to do about you and me,” I said honestly.

He leaned in towards me again, taking both of my hands into his and looked deep into my eyes.  “Do you love me, Avery?”

“Yes, but not in the ‘I wanna go have hot sex with you right now way.’  I’m sorry, I just don’t look at you like that anymore, even though you are very sexy,” I added with a happy wink.

He laughed as he pushed a piece of my hair off my face.  “Thanks for the compliment, Ave.  But I have to say I agree with you.  I guess I just want to make us the perfect family…”

“And we can be…we just won’t be married to each other,” I exclaimed with a smile.  “As long as Sofia is loved by both of us, it will be perfect.”

A smile slowly crept across his lips as he nodded at my statement.  “This is why I do love you, as my friend I mean; you have such an optimistic outlook on life.”

I couldn’t help but snort again.  “Don’t let word get out because everyone else thinks I’m the most pessimistic person on the planet.  I blame this on you and Joff.”

“Anything to see that beautiful smile more often,” Evan said as he got up off the bench and pulled me up with him.  We then stood there under the starry sky holding each other in a tight hug, sealing our new fate as a family.

The road trip crawled to an end on Friday night, with us getting back to Anaheim early Saturday morning.  I was physically and mentally drained.  The worst part was is that hockey had nothing to do with any of it.  I was homesick for Avery and Sofia.  I had myself such a wreck after calling her numerous times to find no answer that Bobby had to take my phone away from me by Thursday.

Saturday morning I dragged myself out of bed and began my mission of getting my girls back.

I heard the bells jingle, signaling that someone had entered the store but I was busy finishing up an arrangement so I yelled out, “I’ll be right with you!”  No one answered, which I found a little rude but 2 minutes later I walked out from the back room, wiping my hands on my smock.  When I finally looked up, no one was to be found.  The only thing I noticed was a bouquet of Red, Orange and Cream tulips wrapped in cellophane lying on the counter.  Stapled to the clear, plastic wrapping was a handwritten note that stated: “For the Flower Girl.”

“What the heck?” I said to myself as I looked at the beautiful flowers.  Tulips were by far my favorite and they must have come from a ritzy flower shop because even as a florist, I did not have pull in getting the flowers during this part of the season.

I jumped when I heard his voice speak from behind me.  “I was told that tulips are a symbol of love.  They claim that red stands for ‘believe me’ and are a declaration of true love.  Orange stands for passion and cream colored tulips mean ‘I will love you forever.’”

I slowly turned around, staring down at the flowers as he spoke, trying to hide the smile that was creeping across my face.  “I’m sorry, but you can’t bring flowers bought from one florist and try to return them to another…”

“Shit, really?  I figured you might have changed your policy on flower returns since some guy gave you a hard time about it before,” he said as serious as possible as he took a step towards me and removed the bouquet from my hand, laying them on the counter next to me before backing me up into it.  “I guess it’s good that I bought them for the flower shop owner, hopefully she’ll keep them and not tell me to shove them up my ass.”  His body was now centimeters away from mine, even though the energy between us made it feel like we were glued together.  The heat that radiated off of him made me want to melt onto the counter.  My breathing was now shallow and quick, causing me to consciously try and slow my respirations, afraid I’d hyperventilate.

“Sounds like a cranky flower shop owner,” I said breathlessly, almost not getting all the words out coherently.

“Nah, just one that didn’t believe in love it seems but I worked some magic and brought her around to the idea of smiling again…”

“What happened that you are bringing her flowers?”

“I fucked up.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, the first time she needs all the support she can get from a decision she made long before we met, I get all emo and worry about my own feelings instead of hers…” he said while he looped a piece of my hair around his finger.  “She didn’t answer her phone when I tried to apologize, so I’m hoping that seeing her in person will make things a little different.”

“What, do you think you have some physical power of her?” I asked, trying not to squeak when he began to run his fingers lightly up and down my arms.

“Mmm,” he purred into my ear, causing the rest of my hairs to stand up on end.  “I think I do.”

“What if I said that I am not much better than you in the relationship department?  What if I stand here and tell you that I’m sorry for not taking your feelings into context? What if I told you that I’ve been miserable ever since you walked out my apartment door?”

“I’d have to say I’ve been the same way and that I’m glad to hear those words out of your mouth,” he said, slowly snaking an arm around my waist, pulling me fully against him now.  “Before we go any further, Avery, I need to tell you one thing.”

“Yeah?”

“I love you.”

I couldn’t help but smile broadly at this as my heart began beating even faster.  “I love you too,” I said straight-forth as I looked up at him.  “I’m sorry for keeping you in the dark about Evan…”

“Sssh,” he murmured as he leaned down and pressed his lips firmly against mine.  I felt his hands move up my back, leaving a path of fire as they moved.  My arms wrapped around him, pulling him even closer against me so that I could feel his warmth that I had missed so much.  I easily parted my lips as he sought entry to my mouth with his tongue.  He retraced the last path he had taken when we had kissed the last afternoon we spent in each others arms.  It felt so long ago, yet he felt so familiar.  I couldn’t help but smile as his body gave him away.  I could feel his hardened length against my stomach, even through our clothing.  “Are you the only one here?” he asked huskily as we parted lips.

All I could do was nod.

“Good, cause I already locked the door and set the sign to close,” he announced proudly as he reached down, cupped my ass and picked me up, taking me into the back room.  With a swipe of his large hand, he cleared the flower garbage off the metal working table and sat me down hurriedly.  He fumbled with the back tie of my smock, pulling it off quickly and then going for my shirt.  I already had him out of his and I was working on his belt as my shirt went over-top my head and onto the counter behind him.  Soon I was crying out in delight as his lips came down on the sensitive skin of my neck.  My fingers were intertwined in his hair, pushing him towards my aching breasts, wanting to feel his mouth caress them.  I felt him laugh at my insistence but he seemed happy to oblige me.  As I felt his tongue flick one of my sensitive nipples, I arched back onto the table, letting go of his hair and focusing on the pleasure he was giving me.  “God you are so beautiful, Avery,” he said with my nipple still in his mouth, causing me to buck off the table.

“Joffrrrreeeyyy…” I began to say but of course the last part of his name came out as a high pitched whine as he began giving attention to my other nipple while kneading both of my breasts with his hands.

“Hmm?” he asked humored as he looked up at me.

“Yesssss,” I hissed, realizing I was no longer able to form coherent sentences or thoughts.

Before I knew it my bare ass was sitting on the cold metal table with my legs wrapped around Joffrey’s waist, opening up for him to slide his long, hardened length into me.  “Fuuuuck,” he grunted out, pushing deep inside.  Soon the sound of our skin hitting together echoed off the work room walls.  The table was at the perfect height for him to hit my g-spot, in-turn giving me one hell of an orgasm that people on the street probably heard me having as I screamed.  Soon I felt Joff emptying his warm fluid deep inside of me and I couldn’t help but smile sedately.  He fit me perfectly and I knew I never wanted another.

He pulled my rag-doll body up into a sitting position so that I could rest my head on his shoulder while he was still twitching inside of, making me giggle.

“No laughter, that act was very serious,” he grumbled, hiding his own laughter.

“Mmm, I will agree that it was very serious,” I whispered as I ran my hands up and down his bare, muscular back.  “Because, I’m very serious about loving you,” I said, opening up for the first time to him.

“No more secrets,” he said as he pressed his lips to my neck.

“No more secrets.”