Chapter 54: Chapter 54

/Amber's pov/

My father seemed to be a bit older, and his hair had changed and become a little greyer, but it was his eyes that attracted my attention. My memories of him were of hard, icy eyes that were constantly furious, but he was different here; he was smiling and pleasant, and he seemed to be kind and caring.

"It's kind of cute, huh?" Josh shared his thoughts.

With difficulty, I drew my gaze away from my father to the small baby; he was adorable and plump, with blond hair, brown eyes, and a wide grin. I took a look at the person in the photograph; she had brown hair and grey eyes, much like my mother and myself. I was intrigued. She was well-dressed. "Is she your mother?" I inquired, my finger pointing at her.

He nodded, grinned, and nodded some more. “Yeah. "Her name is Abigail," he continued, returning his wallet to my possession after I was finished.

I couldn't get the image of my father's smile out of my head for a long time. Was he a different person now? When I looked over Josh, he appeared to be in good health, with no bruises or cuts, and no telltale limp or wincing or anything. "Do you get along with him then?" I inquired, keeping an eye on his expression to see what he would say.

“Stanley? He's OK, I get along with him just fine. "It'll be better when he's older and able to do more things," he said, shrugging his shoulders.

I took a deep breath. "No, I was referring to my father," I said, trying not to cringe at the prospect of seeing him again. Josh looked around and nodded, but he said nothing. In an attempt to press for a response, I said, "It must be difficult having a man come along after years of it just being you and your mom."

Was my father inflicting pain on him as well, or was it the baby or his mother? That he didn't have another female living with him instantly made me feel better about myself. The physical violence was terrible; Jake took the brunt of it, but it was the sexual torture that left mental wounds that I felt I would never be able to heal from completely. Memories of those Sundays rushed through my head, and I bit the inside of my cheek to keep tears from streaming down my face.

He gazed down at the ground with a nod. His voice drifted off as he shrugged, "but they've been together for more than two years now, so...." he continued. In an attempt to press the topic further, I opened my lips, but he cut me off. "Can you tell me how long you and Mike have been together?" he said, picking some more grass from the ground and rolling it in his palm to form a ball.

The idea of Mike brought a grin to my face. "should be a month and a half."

"Doesn't he happen to be your brother's friend?" he inquired.

“Yeah. "I've known him since I was four years old," I said, enjoying the opportunity to chat about Mike. In fact, I had become used to seeing him all day on weekends, and it had been difficult to adjust to just seeing him at lunchtime during the week. "How about you tell me a little bit more about yourself," I said, resting down on my stomach and putting my head on my hands as I watched him.

He, too, took a seat and began talking about his life, his loves, and his dislikes. He was an avid skateboarder who participated in contests and other events on the weekends, as well as doing acrobatics and tricks. He longed for his old buddies. He'd never had a romantic partner before. The chicken curry was one of his favorite dishes.

Then I saw Mike sprinting towards me across the parking lot, looking so good that it was almost unpleasant to look at him. Then he put his arms around me, pulling me off my feet, and slammed his lips into mine. I leaped up and giggled as he did so. I returned his kisses with fervor.

After a few seconds, he took a step back. "I need some alone time with you," he said softly as he kissed me again, this time with a little more gentleness.

I cracked a grin. "Are you serious? Right now? "Can't you just wait until we get home?" I made a joke.

He made a shaky motion with his head. "No, but I can wait till the back parking lot after we get picked up from Jake," he said, grinning wickedly.

Michael, you'll see me in your dreams," I added, smiling and rolling my eyes.

Did you just call my full name outright? with a shocked expression he asked.

Well, what are you going to do about it then? returning a wicked grin to him I added kiss me?

While he placed me on the ground, keeping me close to his side and chuckling at my face, he said, "I think you're right that's exactly what I'll do." before bringing his head closer to mine and kissing me sweetly.

Josh pulled himself to his feet and took a strange position there. "Thank you for looking after my lady," Mike replied, a kind grin on his face. "I appreciate it."

The young man grumbled uneasily as he kicked his shoes onto the grass. "Yeah, no problem," he said. Jake came up and looked between me and Josh with a perplexed expression on his face. "Well, I suppose I'll see you all the next morning. "Thank you for allowing me to spend out with you, Amber," Josh added with a smile.

"Yeah, that was a lot of fun. 'Hey, let's go have a look at this automobile of yours before you go,' I offered, indicating toward the parking garage. He flashed a smug smile.

"Can I ask what kind of automobile you have?" As we began walking, Jake inquired, his curiosity piqued. I had a feeling it would pique Jake's attention. I grinned and pushed Mike a little farther back, allowing Jake and Josh to move ahead and give them a little breathing room. To be able to quit scowling at Josh, Jake needed to know for himself that he was okay... By the time we got up with them, Jake was sitting behind the wheel of a Mercedes-Benz C300 in midnight black, his hands caressing passionately across the dashboard.

"Oh crap, this is a very great automobile," Mike gushed, trailing his palm over the top of the car and widening his eyes. He took my hand in his and drew me closer to himself. In his words, "When I become a rich hockey player, I'll buy you one of them, the latest model actually." He then tangled his fingers in my hair and looked into my eyes, which caused my whole body to feel somewhat weightless.

I pressed myself against him and gently bit the inside of his chin. "I'd rather have a Royce," I sarcastically said.

He let out a big sigh. When I kissed him back, he made me want for him to run his hands down my body. "Wow, OK, I hope I get signed to a decent team if you're going to be this demanding," he said as he kissed me again, making me long for him to run his hands down my body.

After another 10 minutes of fawning over Josh's automobile, we eventually departed and headed to Jake's place of work in the city. I rushed into the front seat and clutched Mike's hand the whole trip home, eagerly anticipating some alone time with him. It wouldn't be easy, especially with my mother in town for the week, but I'm certain that we'd manage. Even a simple snuggle on the couch seemed like absolute nirvana at this point in time.

The following morning, after Mike had sneaked out of my window, I walked to the kitchen and found Jake speaking with my mother in front of the refrigerator. "Good morning," I greeted the day cheerfully.

My mother stared at me with a puzzled expression. "Can you tell me what made you so pleased this morning?" she said a smile on her face.

I hid a smile and a laugh because I couldn't bear the thought of telling her that my hunk of a lover had just given me a very excellent reason to be smiling before he climbed back out of my window and onto the street. Instead, I shrugged my shoulders. "Why not?" I argued, my gaze wandering away from Jake. He was most likely aware of the precise cause for my contented and joyful expression.

"So, Jake, do you have anything you'd want to share with me?" I taunted him as I took up a position next to him.

The man seemed disoriented as he shook his head. “No. "Should there be?" he said, his brows raised in a suspicious manner.

"Do you think you're crushing on one of my friends?" I softly nudged him with my shoulder to get his attention.

He gasped and spilled a bowl of cereal down the kitchen counter; he soon regained his composure and a grin appeared on his face. "I'm not madly in love with your closest buddy, Kate. "Remember, that's your job," he continued, a sly smirk on his face. I couldn't help but chuckle since he wasn't helping himself by being so protective; if he didn't care for her, he would have simply gone along with it or made some dirty remark.

"All right, that's OK. But I never said Kate's name Jake, you may say anything you want. I'm keeping an eye out for you. "Just don't damage her," I said, reaching for a cereal dish and preparing some breakfast for myself.

Just then Mike entered our house his face beaming exactly like mine.

It's possible that if my face looked anything like Mike's, that's why my mother was curious about what had brought me to such happiness. Throughout the whole conversation, he was beaming. "Good morning," he said, passing Jake and throwing him one of those cheesy fist jabs on the way by.