Out of the Shallows

Epilogue

Chicago September 2014

The Tent was packed with people who’d come out to hear The Stolen. I glanced curiously at all those faces, knowing somewhere in the crowd was an A & R executive from a major record label.

The Tent was a rock club in Chicago’s South Side and to just be playing it was a huge deal for the guys. To have a talent scout in the audience, an even bigger deal.

A rumble of husky laughter met my ears before warm lips brushed my neck and a strong arm slid around my waist. I turned to look up into Jake’s handsome face.

“Claudia’s a wreck,” he said loudly. “I left her with Beck backstage.”

“She wants this for him.” I hugged him close. “And you know how concerned he is.”

Jake didn’t look concerned at all. “I told him if the band gets signed and it starts taking its toll on his and Claudia’s relationship, he walks away from the band. Easy solution.”

I frowned. “And you’re sure the guys are all okay with that?”

He shrugged. “They’re his boys.”

I gave a little huff of laughter. “It’s that simple?”

“With these guys, yeah.”

“Wow. I’m impressed. It’s all very mature.” I made a face. “Are you sure Matt was involved in that decision-making?”

Jake smirked. “Yes. But with Matt, it’s more a case of being laid-back rather than mature and understanding.”

I grinned. “Yeah, that makes more sense.”

Before Jake could respond, the lights dimmed and the guys doing the sound check on stage quickly shuffled off. The crowd grew quiet.

The Stolen walked onstage and the noise exploded, people clapping, yelling, and whistling. I’d watched the guys perform more times than I could count, but the atmosphere was different tonight. There were at least a couple hundred people here—their biggest crowd yet. Along with that was the air of electricity, anticipation, and expectation.

This could be the beginning of everything for The Stolen.

Lowe stepped up to the mic and gave the trademark smirk that was sure to cause millions of women all over the world to fall in love with him if/when the band hit the big time.

Denver started the rhythm on the drums and the guys soon followed as Lowe sang in his deep, husky melodious voice. The crowd surged forward around the stage and the electricity in the room went full power.

Throughout the set, I’d shoot looks at Jake as he stood singing along to his best friends’ songs. He was proud of them. We both were.

An hour later they finished out the set with my favorite, “Lonely Boy.”

The crowds cheered and whistled and catcalled at the guys as soon as the song ended. I watched Beck and Lowe share a grin, shaking their heads in disbelief at the atmosphere they’d created tonight. Lowe turned back to the mic and gave a small salute to the crowd. “You’ve been listening to The Stolen. Thanks and have a good night.”

They began to make their way off stage to the chants for more. Jake grabbed my hand and tugged. “Backstage,” he mouthed. I nodded and held on tight as he maneuvered us through the crowd so we could congratulate the guys. I put a hand behind my back, fingers crossed, hoping that when we got there, the A & R executive would’ve beaten us to it.

I gasped into Jake’s mouth as he rocked inside me.

“You there?” he panted, the muscles in his arms flexing.

He had my hands pinned at the sides of my head as a deterrent to my impatience. Jake liked making lazy love to me in the mornings, and I had a tendency to turn things a little wild. He’d taken to holding me down, which was seriously hot.

I gripped his hips with my thighs, lifting my hips into his slow thrust. “Almost,” I said breathlessly. “Harder, Jake.”

He gritted his teeth and shook his head as he continued on his determined torture. It was worth it. The drawn-out building of tension toward orgasm only made my climax that much sweeter and longer.

I shattered, and my inner muscles clenched around Jake, expelling his own orgasm from him. He gave a muffled yell, his grip on my hands momentarily tightening.

And then he collapsed over me, his warm breath puffing against my neck as his hands loosened their hold. Free, I wrapped my arms around his sweat-slickened back and gripped his waist with my thighs. “Good morning to you too,” I laughed, my voice a little husky from having yelled and clapped for the band last night. Not to mention the yelling and celebrating we did afterward when the A & R exec told the guys he was impressed and he’d be in touch to set up a time to chat.

Jake pressed a kiss against my shoulder. “Morning,” he mumbled and nuzzled his head back against my neck.

I stroked his back with one hand and ran my fingers through his hair with the other. This was my favorite time with Jake. Don’t get me wrong—the sex was awesome and the closer we grew again, the better it got—but these moments, holding him with my whole body while he lay replete and happy, was the best feeling in the world.

We’d done a lot of talking in Europe during spring break. Okay, yes, there was a lot of sex as well, but mostly we let it all out—our apologies, our hurts, our resentments, our hopes for the future. We had a lot to work out and it hadn’t been easy. We’d argued at lot in those first few weeks. However, I felt like we were finally where we wanted to be.

I’d been apprehensive about admitting to Jake we’d both be at U of C as grad students but I shouldn’t have been. He was relieved that we wouldn’t have to contend with long distance on top of everything else. School had started, and we worked our butts off during the week so we could spend the weekends together. Jake was still living with the guys but since they could live anywhere, they’d opted for an apartment on the South Side so Jake could be close to school and me, and Beck could be close to Claudia. Claudia and I had gotten an apartment together, only a block away.

Reluctant to get up, I sighed and patted Jake’s delicious ass. “We’ve got to go.”

He groaned and pushed back so he was leaning over me again. His lids sat low over his beautiful dark eyes. “I want to stay inside you.”

I smiled and reached up to caress his cheek. “I want you to stay inside me too, but it’s that time again.”

Gently pulling out of me, Jake’s eyes burned into mine as he stroked my hip. “We could just fuck each other’s brains out all day.”

My breath stuttered at the suggestion but I somehow managed a semi-nonchalant response. “Another time maybe.”

He flashed me a grin, not buying it. “You know you want to.”

I smirked at him as he rolled off me and onto his back. “Sometimes we can’t always get what we want.”

“But to endure torture? Every month? It doesn’t seem right.”

I slid out of bed and strode across the room to my bathroom. “You’re going to endure this torture until my family is comfortable with us.” I switched on the shower and waited for it to heat up before stepping inside. Since getting back together with Jake, I’d made it my life mission to create some kind of peace between him and my family. I wasn’t giving either of them up. There was only so much compromising I could do, and definitely only so much sacrificing.

I knew what it felt like to give up Jake for someone else, and it not only made me miss him, it had made me miss me. I wasn’t the girl who gave up on someone just because someone else told her to. It took me a while to remember that, but once I had Jake back in my life, I knew there was no way I was letting go without a fight.

That’s when I invented “Reconciliation Saturday.” Once a month Jake and I drove to Lanton and spent Saturday and the better part of Sunday with my family. Getting Jake to Lanton the first time was hard, and there were still the odd few idiots who watched him with suspicion whenever we went into town, but he was willing to put himself through it for me.

A few seconds later, Jake joined me in the shower. He brushed my wet hair off my face as he crowded me against the cold tiles. “Baby, your dad is never going to be comfortable with us.”

I wasn’t sure that was true at all. “Andie came around. And Mom has too. Dad will get there.”

“You again,” Dad grunted at Jake.

Dad released me from his hug, kissed my forehead, and strolled toward the living room without another word to Jake.

My boyfriend stood on my parents’ doorstep with a resigned look on his face. “Your dad will get there, huh?”

“In time.” I gave him a look of apology and grabbed his arm to pull him inside.

“I thought I heard voices!”

We spun around to watch my mom descend the staircase with a huge smile on her face. As soon as she reached us, she pulled me into a tight hug. When she released me, she turned to Jake and cupped his cheek in her hand. “It’s good to see you.”

He smiled, a little of the tension leaving him. “You too, Delia.”

“I made my macaroni pie in exchange for dishes duty.”

“It’s a deal,” he agreed. Jake loved my mom’s macaroni pie.

The front door flew open and Andie stepped inside, talking to the hulking figure of her husband-to-be over her shoulder. “Fruitcake? Really?”

“Yes, fruitcake,” Rick said in an insistent voice as he gently nudged her inside.

Andie huffed and turned to us. “I thought the benefit of marrying an orphan was that I didn’t have to put up with crappy opinions from the groom’s side of the family.”

“Andie,” Mom admonished.

I, however, chuckled at Rick. “Good thing you’ve got a thick skin.”

“You need it to marry a Redford sister. Right, Jake?” Rick clapped a hand on Jake’s shoulder in greeting.

“Truer words have never been spoken,” Jake said. “How you doing?”

“My head’s bursting from discussing wedding plans but on the plus side, I’ve been working overtime to get a break from it.”

“Liar,” Andie snorted, finally coming forward to embrace Mom in hello. “He’s fussier than anyone about this stuff.” She pulled back on a pout. “Mom, please tell him we can’t have fruitcake for our wedding cake.”

I wrinkled my nose. “No fruitcake. Vanilla sponge with buttercream frosting.”

“Yes, exactly!” Andie threw her arms around me like I’d just saved her from drowning.

“Why don’t you have both?” Jake shrugged.

Andie and Rick stared at him a moment before looking back at each other. “He’s a genius,” Rick stated.

“Agreed.” She grinned cheekily at me. “I’m so glad I got you two back together.”

“Oh yeah, because you totally should take all the credit for that,” I said.

Before we could get into an argument, Rick turned to Mom. “If baking two cakes is too much, Delia, we’ll buy one.”

“Don’t be silly.” Mom waved him off. “I can bake two. Claudia will help me.”

I snorted. “I’ll inform her she’s been drafted.”

“You all going to stand out in the hall yakking or you coming in here to watch the rerun of last Sunday’s game?” Dad called from the living room.

“I thought for sure he was going to offer you a beer.” I snuggled into Jake’s side, trying not to be mad at my dad—and failing.

It was bad enough he talked to Rick and ignored anything Jake had to say during the game, but to get up and grab himself and Rick a beer and not get Jake one was rude. Rick had frowned at Dad, handed Jake his beer, and got up to get himself another.

Five months had passed since I’d first brought Jake home. That was five visits and Dad’s reception hadn’t gotten any less frosty.

I huffed out an exasperated sigh as Jake and I walked down Main Street. As soon as Jake had finished his beer, I’d practically hauled him out of the house for a walk, in the hopes that I’d cool off. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” Jake tightened his arm around my shoulder. “Jim’s just trying to make sure I’m in this for the long haul.”

“You mean he’s testing you?” I wrinkled my nose in annoyance.

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Well, it sucks, and my dad is this close to getting my foot in his ass.”

“Nah, leave it. I’ve handled worse.” Jake’s eyes swept over Hub’s across the street and I saw them dim slightly with memories. It didn’t help that people still looked at him as if he was something of a curiosity. “This town still freaks me out,” he muttered.

I frowned. “You know you can stop coming here anytime and I’d understand.”

“Nah,” he looked down at me solemnly. “I think the time for running is long past.” He tugged on my hand and pulled me across the street.

“Where are we going?”

Jake grinned. “If I recall, my girl has a thing for chocolate milkshakes.”

Amazed, I gave him a tentative smile. “You want to go into Hub’s for a milkshake?”

Hub’s? One of the places where we had a ton of memories of Brett acting like an ass around us. The kind of memories that led to worse memories.

Jake pushed open the diner door, smiling back at me. “Yeah.” He gave my hand a reassuring squeeze and led me inside. “Time to make new memories, Supergirl.”