When I'm With You

Now that my work is done, the rest is up to them.

And that officially ended my work at CS for the foreseeable future.

I look back at the turned frame and let myself relax knowing that even if she puts up a fight, now that I’m finished here, I can go there and then, I’m one step closer to getting my girl.

“Nathaniel.”

I look up at Maddox and pray he isn’t about to kick my ass now. I would rather not have to explain to Ember that her father tried to kill me before I even had a chance to win her.

“Sir?”

“I’m proud of you,” he declares, causing me to pause cleaning up my files. “I’m not an easy person to stand up to and the fact that you had no problem putting me in my place shows me just what kind of man you’ve become. You might play the part of the carefree clown, but you have a strength about you that shows me if my baby girl decides to give you her heart, you’re worth holding on to it.”

I almost lose control of my body and drop dead in shock at his words. Fuck me, but I never thought I would get his blessing. I figured winning Ember would be the easy part—winning her father’s approval being the fight.

“Thank you, Maddox,” I reply, pretty damn proud that I’m able to keep myself from pumping my fist up in victory.

“That being said,” he continues, his voice taking on a threatening tone. “If you hurt her in any way, remember that I know how to kill you and make it look like an accident. Don’t make me have to kill one of my best friends’ boys, Nate.”

“Uh,” I hesitate, my eyes widening.

“Nothing to say. I know where you stand and you know where I stand. You have my blessing to make her happy, but with that comes the promise of what I’ll do if you fuck that up.”

I nod, swallowing the pool of saliva that had gathered in my mouth.

I place the last folder of my closed cases in the tray on the side of my desk and grab my phone off the charging dock before turning to leave, only to stop in my tracks when Maddox calls my name.

“Coming from me as a man and not a father, know I speak from firsthand knowledge that women don’t take kindly to being pressed against a wall unless you actually remember doing it to her too.”

Fuck me. He did not just say that.

“And,” he continues, looking down at his monitor. “My daughter deserves better than being pushed up against a dirty wall. Don’t do that shit.”

Without knowing what in the fucking hell I’m supposed to say to that shit, I give him a gruff sound of acknowledgment before turning and walking with just a little more speed than normal out of the dungeon.

Nate: I’m on the way.

I LOOK DOWN AT MY phone but decide to finish my task before responding.

I pull the latex glove down onto my hand and grimace when I reach out to pick up one of the two dead birds right outside my back door. I had already cleaned up the broken bird feeder that had been hanging on the overhang leading into my house. My heart broke thinking that I had been responsible for two little birds dying because I hadn’t secured their feeder well enough.

This week has been full of me cleaning crap up, it seems.

Five days ago, a branch had fallen off one of the oak trees outside my bedroom window, shattering the window above my bed before landing in the middle of my mattress with enough force to puncture the damn thing. That, fortunately, had happened when I had been up late finishing my last piece for my show, trying to make up for the two days I missed after my birthday and subsequent hangover. Still, I made a point to have the men delivering my new mattress help me move my bed to the other side of the room—the one without a window near it.