Shape of You (+18)

Chapter Twenty-Four

▬▬▬▬ Joel's POV ▬▬▬▬

After making things up with Marley, the rest of my day went by so smoothly. I just felt...lighter, like a weight was lifted off of me. For the past week and a half, I had to rely on my right hand to get me off, which was fucking depressing after having that freckled temptress underneath me, writhing, moaning, screaming because of what I was doing to her.

Jacking off just didn't have the same appeal.

So, finally being able to fuck her again definitely boosted my mood. A day had passed since then and I was still buzzing from the orgasm her tight body pulled from me. She had my complete attention, and despite me usually having physical control whenever we had sex, I knew she was the real one in control.

I couldn't get her or the shape of her body out of my head. Those perky freckled breasts she always pushed against my chest whenever she needed more from me. That perfect ass she knew I appreciated maybe a little too much. Those legs, so toned and flexible she could bend them however I wanted her to. And fuck, as if that wasn't enough to drive a man crazy, Marley fucking Jones had to have the most hypnotizing green eyes on the planet and the most tempting lips to match.

I'd been fantasizing about what it'd be like to sleep with her for almost two months before I actually manned the fuck up and approached her at that club that night, hooked on the way she was dancing, flirting, teasing me. I'd be damned if I lied and said my fantasies were better, because, as far as I could tell, nothing felt better than being inside of her.

Honestly, it was nice to feel like, with everything going on with my family, I was able to have some sort of relief outside of them. In retrospect, Dom might of had a good point. I did tend to prioritize everyone else's lives over my own, meaning I really didn't have much of a personal life. Everything revolved around Everly, and Jared, and if not them, then I was worried about my mother, or my shop and doing my best to keep it going.

The only real friends I hung out with were Dom and Rick, because Sam and Chris were always overseas. And dating? I hadn't done that seriously since I became responsible for Ev—not because I didn't want to, but because I didn't think I could.

Single parenting was a full time job, and I was only twenty-two at the time she fell into my lap. My carpentry business was barely existent, customers solely found through word of mouth. I worked out of my garage, and had a crappy website that I barely understood how to run. It was a lot, and at that age, most women weren't looking for a guy they thought had already knocked someone up and probably had 'baby mama' drama. That was okay though, because I really didn't have the time for a woman—I was too busy learning how to be a father.

Fast forward six years from then, and here I was, still not making time for myself or what I wanted out of life. Dammit, I hate when Dom's right. I wouldn't be young forever, and if I didn't want to be a fucking loner until I died, I'd have to make time for myself, eventually. I just...I had a hard time seeing now as that time. Not when Marie was trying to take my daughter from me. Not when Jared was barely surviving in jail.

Maybe I was misguided in believing that, but I thought it would be selfish to focus on my romance life when the most important people to me were facing real adversities. I had to be there for them. It was an obligation, and one I wouldn't complain about.

That was why, no matter how much gas I burned through to make this trip to the penitentiary, I made it every week, because my brother deserved the company, and I was doing everything I could to help him get his life back on track.