Part 54
They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Fortunately, AJ and Stormy weren’t headed to hell but their intentions of spending the day alone were blown straight there. Their first visitors were Howie and his mother with several dishes. Next came Kevin and Dee followed by Denise and Tony. It was a steady stream all day and by dinnertime that night, every spare corner of the refrigerator was full. There was a plethora of assorted sweets, everything from cakes to candy. Stormy wasn’t going to have to cook for a month with all the food.
Just like the night before, Stormy saw their last visitor to the door and after saying goodbye, she locked the door and headed back to join AJ on the couch. On her way though, she lit the candles, turned off the lights, and turned on the stereo. Moving to the rhythm of the song playing, she did a slow strip tease as she made her way to him and when she reached him, she was completely naked.
Putting his hands on her waist, AJ kissed her stomach. “You are so freakin’ hot!”
“Up for making love?”
“Would you be upset if I said ‘no’?”
“Maybe but you can always make it up to me,” Stormy smirked. “What do you want to do?”
“How about we go watch some TV?”
“Sounds good,” and she helped him up.
With his arm around her shoulders, Stormy helped AJ to the TV room and while he undressed, she got them a blanket. Settling on the couch together, the couple spooned together, Stormy in front, and they pulled the blanket over them. AJ had the remote and began flipping through the channels until he found the Comedy Channel that was playing a ‘Southpark’ marathon.
Neither one spoke for close to fifteen minutes but the whole time AJ held her, he was running his fingers lightly over her arm. He traced the contour of the muscles in her arm and the fold of her elbow.
Realizing he wasn’t paying attention to the TV, Stormy took the remote and changed it to ‘Charmed’.
“Hey!” protested AJ. “I was watching that!”
“No you weren’t,” laughed Stormy. “You were playing with me.”
“But…but….”
Stormy looked back at him and smirked, “Don’t try that cute little pout.”
“Will it work?”
“NO!”
“I guess I’m busted then, huh?”
“In a word…YES!”
“I’m sorry about today.”
“It wasn’t your fault and it was nice of everyone.”
AJ began placing kisses along her back and neck as his fingers caressed her stomach.
“This is nice too,” whispered Stormy trying to move closer to him.
“Uh huh.” The phone rang but AJ didn’t stop what he was doing. Instead, he said, “Your turn.”
Stormy reached for the phone, “Hello.”
“Hey, Stormy. You fixing dinner?”
“Nope…Alex and I were just laying here watching TV. What’s up, Kev?”
“I just called to check on you two. I haven’t really had a chance to talk to you after what happened yesterday. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. I was okay yesterday when he explained but we’ve talked more about it.”
“And?”
“We’re taking it one day at a time. Alex’s sobriety in the most important thing right now and I’m going to support him in that.”
AJ squeezed her tight kissing her as he listened to her end of the conversation with Kevin.
“I never doubted that, Stormy. I was just worried about you.”
“No need to worry, Dad,” teased Stormy. “But I do appreciate it.”
“You’re a part of us now. I’m going to worry about you. Look, Dee and I are leaving Orlando tonight for a while. I’ll check up on you two when I can.”
“Thanks, Kevin…for everything.”
“It’s my pleasure. Tell Alex good-bye for me and we’ll see you soon.”
Stormy cut the phone off and set it back on the base as AJ asked coolly, “What did ‘Dad’ want?”
“Checking on me and letting us know he and Dee were leaving town. He said to tell you good-bye. Alex, why are you mad?”
“What do you mean?”
“Your tone…it’s kind of cold,” answered Stormy as she rolled over on her back in order to see AJ. It gave her the chance to see the fire burning in his eyes and a chill passed through her. She’d seen him like this before, the night at ‘The Mint’ when they ran into Sarah. Taking his hand, she said softly, “Alex, you don’t need to be jealous of Kevin. One, he’s married, and two, it’s YOU I want. He was just trying to look out for you.”
A hot tear burned a trail down his cheek. “You don’t know Kevin very well. That wedding band on his hand wouldn’t have stopped him if you’d said ‘yes’.”
“But I didn’t. I wouldn’t do that to you.”
“Why didn’t you tell me after it happened?” questioned Alex with a tremble in his voice.
“Mainly because I handled it and I didn’t want to worry you.”
“Don’t keep things from me, please,” he begged.
“I won’t,” promised Stormy aware that he was very upset.
AJ hugged her tight burying his face in her neck and the hot tears burst forth. All of a sudden, everything that had happened…Diaz’ men shooting him and trying to kidnap Stormy, Kevin putting the moves on her to prove a point, and his embarrassing her…were too much to handle. He needed something…a drink…to settle his fears.
In a voice full of tumultuous emotions, AJ said, “I’ll be back,” and he climbed over her. Grabbing his jeans, he pulled them on and made his way out to the living room leaving her stunned and confused.
Stormy sat up and grabbed his shirt. She had to be sure he was okay. Pulling it over her head, she followed him out but stopped when she saw him on the phone. Stepping into the shadows, she stayed quiet as she listened.
“Hey…it’s me…I need your help…yeah, a lot has happened…I’m not going anywhere. Thanks.”
She watched as AJ hung up. He sat staring at the bar across the room and she knew he was fighting the urge to take a drink. She watched and waited, praying that he would be strong enough to resist.
AJ was unaware of her presence as his thoughts raced. One excuse was all he needed and god knows, he had enough, but he couldn’t give in. Not now. He’d made it too far to fall now. His life was in order and ALL his dreams for a happy future were coming true. He had to hold on to his sobriety.
She saw it hit him, the realization that he’d left her alone again. He stood and started to make his way back to her when their eyes met.
“C’mere baby,” he said holding his arms out to her. She moved into his embrace, wrapping her arms around his waist, her cheek pressed against his chest. “I called Jordan and he’s on his way over.”
“Do you want me to fix you something to eat?”
“I guess it would be a good idea. It could be a long night. Do we have iced tea?”
“I can make some.”
Stormy started to pull away so she could go to the kitchen but AJ stopped her. “Today hasn’t exactly been what we’d planned.”
She gave him a warm smile. “We were together. That’s all that matters. You take care of yourself now and I’ll be waiting for you.”
“Thank you.”
She stepped back closer to him and placed her hands on his chest. Standing on her tip toes, she gave him a kiss. “You’re welcome." The doorbell rang and she said, “Go get that and I’ll be in the kitchen.”
Grabbing her clothes, Stormy headed to the kitchen to fix some dinner while AJ went to answer the door. The rest of the evening, AJ sat talking to Jordan about what had happened and why he felt the urge to take a drink. Stormy came through to offer them both some dinner and AJ introduced her to Jordan before she disappeared again.
Late that evening, a very tired AJ climbed the steps to their room, feeling much stronger mentally. Pushing the door open, he found Stormy curled up on the bed still wearing his shirt. She had his pillow clutched tightly as she slept peacefully. Shedding his jeans, AJ climbed in with her. He gathered her in his arms and pressed a kiss into her hair. Once more, she had given him a sign that she would love him no matter what. He took a deep breath, taking in her scent, and then closed his eyes. With the warmth of Stormy’s body next to him, the only ‘drug’ he needed, he fell into dreamland easily.
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