What Love Is

Chapter 10 - Part Two

Hiya! It's currently 11:41 AM, Eastern time, and this part is up before noon, as promised. I think Chapter 10 was kinda sucky but what can I do, it's so friggin hard to write when Drew and Rowan have nothing to do with each other! I will try to make Chapter 11 somewhat more exciting. Happy reading! -Brittany

He felt his heart growing five sizes larger as he smiled down at his daughter. Raine was snuggled deep under the covers; the only things showing were her pixie nose, dark brown hair, and pale blue eyes that looked black in the dark lighting. The only light source came from the Little Mermaid lamp on the table between the two beds. Hannah was fast asleep, her wounds and injuries healed. She was still sore from time to time, but it was to be expected. He was proud of her for being such a fighter.

Drew leaned down and gave her a small kiss on the forehead. She grinned up at him.

“Night, Dad,” she whispered.

“Sleep tight, Raine,” he murmured back, turning to Hannah, checking that she was actually sleep, and straightening. Raine inched farther down under the covers as he shut the light off. Darkness enveloped the room, and he turned back to see Jamie leaning on the doorway, light spilling in from the hall.

She said nothing as he stepped out of the room, shutting the door behind him. He looked down at her, unsure of what to do. He had only moved back in a week ago at her request, and he still felt mildly confused in his own home. She moved her hands up his arms, gently massaging the muscles as her fingers roamed over his skin. Drew frowned down at her, dubious of her intent. When she glanced up, he saw the familiar slinky glint of lust in her eyes that he had known so well in high school, and breathed a tiny sigh of relief.

“Are the girls asleep?” she huskily murmured.

He nodded in response, slowly lowering his head. She met him halfway, and their mouths meshed, fusing in a practiced dance they’d been performing for twelve years, since their first kiss in their senior year. He kissed her deep, lighting with pleasure as he tasted Jamie’s familiar warmth. She moaned softly as he wound his fingers in her platinum blonde hair.

“I’m glad you came back,” she whispered. “Maybe we can put this all behind us. Be like we were before.”

“I’d like that,” he replied against her mouth. “I still love you, Jamie, you know that, right?”

She leaned back a little, pale eyes turned deep brown, hair switched to a dark shade of red. “Of course, Drew. I love you too.”

His eyes managed to work themselves open, and he found himself staring into the nighttime darkness of his apartment. Frigid air rushed into the room at an alarming rate, the blinds in front of the window flapping noisily. Groaning, he rolled out of bed, hurrying over to shut the window. Silence followed as the glass met the pane, sealing. He let out a pained, ragged, breath.

Drew stood there, wrapping his arms around his middle. He looked down, realizing he was completely naked. He forcefully shivered, wandering over to the dresser and pulling out boxers and a wrinkled tee. For a moment, he considered stumbling into the kitchen and pulling a few beers out to erase his thoughts for a couple of hours, but he stayed where he was, sitting back down on his bed with the clothes in his hands. He pulled on the boxers sluggishly, dumping the shirt on the floor and curling back into bed with an annoyed sigh.

He was actually afraid to shut his eyes again. He’d been dreaming of Jamie and Rowan nearly every night now, his daughters thrown into the mix sometimes, but his dreams always, always, included the two women. At first, he had welcomed the odd dreams, but over the past month, they’d turned annoying and upsetting. He’d enjoyed seeing Rowan when he could not catch glimpses of her at work, but it was wrong seeing her when she was mixed with Jamie. For some reason, the women did not fit together nicely. How could he explain it? It somewhat…spoiled Rowan’s innocent image, and the thought made him wince. He did not want to think about how Jamie had hurt him, once by cheating on him, twice by taking his children away from him, and three times by driving Rowan away from his arms. It seemed that his wife was determined to force his life into hell, but if that was the case, why did he still feel like he loved her?