Back to the Bed

Brie looked shocked at me. "Are you fucking kidding me?" Brie growled at me.

"Excuse me?" I asked her shocked she had taken such a hard stance with me.

"You lost your wife, I lost my aunt, I watched year after year as you fell further and further down and never bothered to pick yourself up. And if you won't fucking do it, I will drag your ass out of the hell hole you buried yourself with my bare fucking hands if I have to. I came out here to take care of you and go to school, I'm fucking Wonder Woman and you need saving. So shut the fuck up and let me save you." I didn't know what to say, she was right of course, but I never wanted to admit it to myself. "Come on," Brie got up and pulled me up with her. She pushed me back into bed and spooned against my back. "Just let it out," she whispered to me and I felt it all hit me again.

I sobbed again for a bit, I felt Brie's tears against the back of my neck. Yes I had lost my wife and I wallowed in that pity, I never bothered to move on. This was a long time coming, I just needed someone to kick me. Brie had been here barely forty-eight hours and made more progress with me than I had by myself in five years. Brie had been there for me, was there for me, she probably could have gone anywhere in the country but she wanted to come here for school, for me. It wasn't just my loss, but my gain, I had Brie with me now, I had Wonder Woman with me now.

We laid together for a while after I finished crying. Everything hurt, I was hungry, thirsty, I did not at all deserve the young woman holding on to me. I finally rolled over to look at her, Brie's eyes were red from her own crying, but then she smiled at me. Fuck that smile.

"We should find something to eat," I whispered to her.

"Just a sec," she told me, and before I knew it Brie was kissing me. It was soft, it was tender, it was a full-on kiss you give someone you love. As soon as it started, it ended and Brie was smiling brighter than ever at me. Without a word, she got out of bed and went into the bathroom. I was shocked, Brie had just kissed me, actually kissed me. That was wrong, but it felt, not right, but complete. I lasted till Brie came out and my need to use the bathroom came to the forefront. I got out of bed and passed her, well, tried to pass her, Brie hugged me again and I hugged back before she let go and I entered the bathroom. I relieved myself and cleaned myself up some, splashing water on my face again.

I exited the bathroom and found Brie in the living room, sitting on the couch smiling as I approached her. "Can we order brunch? I'm super hungry," Brie asked me flipping through her phone.

"Sure, I'm guessing you found a place?" I inquired as I grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, taking a long drink.

"Yes I did, I started my order, here, get what you want," she told me. She stood up to hand me her phone, passing by me to get her water. I ordered my food and handed her phone back to her. We parked ourselves on the couch, not talking, just sitting and watching TV. When the food came Brie got the door, taking the food she thanked the delivery person, and we sat down to eat. We didn't talk, but it was a nice kind of quiet, like a fulfilling kind of quiet you shared with someone special.

"Do you still want to look for a car today?" I asked her as we were finishing up.

Brie looked up at me surprised as she chewed through her bite of pancakes. "Gee I almost forgot," she started thinking about it. "I guess if you're feeling ok, we can still go. I'd rather get it settled today."

I agreed, better to get it done before school started for her. "Ok let's finish up here and we'll clean up and go." Brie wolfed down the rest of her food and I laughed at her. We cleaned up the table, she showered and I showered, then we were in the truck on our way to one of the better dealerships, Brie found it on the internet. We chatted about what kind of car she wanted, something safe, a hybrid, and maybe a little sporty if possible.

Once there Brie started looking and searching on her phone at the same time. I was surprised at how informed she was about cars, but then again her grandfather owned an auto parts warehouse. I followed her around the place for about twenty minutes before a saleswoman came up to us. I was surprised it took that long.

"Hi, I'm Katie, can I help you find something," Katie asked Brie. She was cute, shorter, black hair in a bob cut, a pretty good hourglass figure. Her business suit and jacket showed off her ample chest, and the nylons on her legs looked pretty sexy too.

"Yes I was hoping to test drive this one here," Brie replied to her as we stood in front of a convertible.

"Oh sure, let me get the keys, I'll need your driver's license though." Katie continued, Brie took her license out and handed it to her. "Oh from out of town, are you going to school here?"

"Yes I start in two weeks," Brie replied like they were friends already.

"Yea I went there too, great business programs, I'm hoping to open my own dealership one day," Katie confessed to her.

"Oh cool! Anything I should know about?" Brie asked as they started to walk into the building, I was forgotten as I stood there watching the pair walk away. I chuckled to myself and flipped through my phone for a few minutes as they came back, continuing to chat and laugh with each other. Brie had the keys and they stuck a magnetic dealer plate to the back and she started the car. "Back in a flash," Brie told us, lowering the top and driving out of the lot.

"Does she do that a lot?" Katie asked me with a smirk.

I shrugged back at her. "Honestly I haven't seen her in over a year and she's seemed to come into her own," I confessed to her.

"That's good, I was a late bloomer too, but once I got out of my shell. Well, let's just say plenty of parents warned their sons against dating me," Katie replied with her confession.

I chuckled a little at her and she gave me a smirk. "So is dating you still not advised?" I have no idea why I asked her that.

Katie flashed me a devilish grin. "Why are you interested?"

I was shocked by her tone and question. "Um, ah well," I was tongue-tied, to say the least. The last woman who showed me interest first was Lisa.

"Here," Katie handed me a card. "My cell is on the back if you ever want to throw caution to the wind with me."

Brie pulled up just after I took the card, I quickly shoved it in my pocket. "Wow that was fun, but I want something safer," Brie explained getting out of the car.

"Well let me see what we can do," Katie replied and we continued to shop. Brie found a good-sized hatchback with a good safety rating. We then spent at least an hour getting her financed, insurance set up, plates, and a sticker. "Anytime you want to get a bite, give me a call," Katie told me quietly with a wink as we left the building, I just smiled at her.

Brie followed me back to the apartment, which we got her a temporary parking pass till they mailed her an actual one. It fit snugly in the garage, and we had to adjust some of the boxes so it would fit better. We headed back to the apartment and resumed cuddling on the couch, after a while, we reheated the remaining pizza and ate in the living room.

"So Katie was nice right?" Brie asked me after we ate leftovers and let our food digest...

"Yea, she was very nice," I responded to her.

There was a pause for a time. "So are you interested in her?" Brie asked me, looking up in my eyes.

I gave her a look, figuring this might be jealousy but it wasn't that, well wasn't exactly that I guess. Then another thought crossed my mind. "We should talk about this morning," I whispered to her. I still felt bad about what had transpired.

Brie sighed and shook her head against me. "It's fine," she told me quietly.

"It's not fine, I almost, I mean I thought you were her, but-."

"Stop," Brie covered my mouth with her soft hand. "You wanted her and thought she was me. I get it, trust me." She took a breath to compose herself. "If you really want to get to the forgive and forget part, ask Katie out. She's nice and I think she'll be good for you." Brie moved her hand to grab the ring around my neck. "I don't want you to forget Lisa, I want you to move on. Understand?"

I did and I nodded to her. "Thank you, Brie, I don't deserve it."

"You do," Brie growled at me. "You deserve to be happy, you at least deserve to date a nice woman for a bit," Brie informed me with her stubborn matter-of-fact voice before cuddling back into me.

"Thank you," I whispered to her, kissing her on her forehead. Brie smiled at me and hugged me tighter.

We went to bed not long after our conversation, we wore the same sleep clothes, but we stayed on our side of the bed tonight. I listened to Brie sleep next to me for a bit as I thought. Today had been interesting, Brie was ok with what happened, I heard her moan after all. That was, weird admittedly, but she was a great girl. No, she was becoming an amazing woman and she was doing whatever it took to help me. I looked over and saw her sleeping form, she was on her side, curled up. In the faint light from the street lights outside she looked angelic, peaceful, and fucking sexy. Her short shorts rode up some and her ass looked incredibly juicy in those shorts, the bottom of her ass cheeks poking out the bottom.

I turned onto my side and tried to clear my head, Brie deserved a nice guy who would take care of her. Not a grumpy fuck like me, no she needed someone better. I huffed quietly as sleep evaded me, looked over my shoulder to make sure she was still asleep. I quietly slipped out of bed and closed the door behind me as I went to the kitchen. I poured myself a large glass of whiskey and sat down on the couch. I took a long pull from the glass and sat in the dark apartment. Not wanting to feel anything I drained the glass before pouring another one and drained that one. Two quick, large glasses of whiskey had me buzzed right away, which was good but I need another one soon enough. I poured one, finishing the bottle off, I turned to sit back down but saw Brie standing in the doorway, watching me.

The look on her face was more than disappointed, it was heartbroken. Why did I keep hurting her? I didn't move, I couldn't move, she had me paralyzed in her vision. I set the glass down and Brie approached me, taking my hand, and led me back to the bed. She laid me down and came up to hold me. We didn't say anything, nothing needed to be said, I knew she had forgiven me. It didn't dull the ache in my chest but it allowed me to sleep at least.

The light from the sun hit my eyes and I groaned as I turned around, Brie moved back enough to let me flip around. I didn't know what time it was and didn't care honestly. My head was fuzzy from the late-night drinking and I just wanted to sleep. I felt Brie kiss my forehead softly as she slipped from the bed. I was curious but tired and fell quickly back to sleep. When I woke up again I was alone and my head was still fuzzy. I huffed as I pulled myself out of bed, I needed to use the bathroom and see where Brie had gone to.

I walked into the living room and found Brie watching TV on the couch, she smiled up at me but didn't say anything. I smiled back and went to pour myself a glass of water. After drinking two glasses and some aspirin I looked in the fridge.

"Did you eat yet?" I asked her, finally breaking the silence.

"No, not yet, I was waiting for you," Brie informed me, with a sullen tone. She was still upset from last night.

"How about I make us my chocolate peanut butter pancakes?" I inquired as I started to gather up the ingredients.

"Really? I haven't had those in forever!" Brie reminded me excitedly as she rushed to sit at the table. "Those are my favorite!"

"I know, you begged for me to make them every time we had you over. Breakfast, lunch, or dinner, that was what you wanted," I responded as I started to mix everything in a bowl.

"Remember my tenth birthday, you made them three times for me," Brie exclaimed. "Best birthday ever!"

I chuckled at her, that was a fun day. "I remember, I also remember the stomach ache you had the next day as you ate way too much sugar."

"The only time my iron stomach failed me," Brie grimaced and I laughed as I started to make the pancakes. Soon enough there was a plate full of pancakes, I barely placed Brie's plate in front of her before she smothered them in butter and syrup and set on devouring the plate in the fastest amount of time ever.

"You're going to choke if you keep that up," I told her with a chuckle as I started to eat from my plate.

"You don't know how much I missed these, I wanted them so bad on my birthday this past year," Brie told me between bites.

"I'm sorry I missed your birthday, I wanted to come but I was starting to not feel good so I postponed my flight but it was fruitless," I explained to her and she smiled up at me.

"No point in making it worse and or spreading it if you came to see us, I understand. Just missed you this last time." Brie stated, perking me up a bit. We ate and both cleaned the kitchen. "Can we go back to campus, I need to buy some supplies and my books," Brie asked me and I agreed easily. We both got ready and hopped into the truck. After our tour, I remembered where the school store was and we entered the shop. Finding the things she needed and ordered up her books, and holy fuck some of those things are rip-offs. It was almost six hundred dollars for a science textbook, well if you sold it back to them they would give four hundred back, but come the fuck on! Brie swiped her card and I started to look through the school's shirts when my phone buzzed.

It was a number I didn't recognize, I was wondering who it was till I answered. "Hello," I asked.

"Hey Dex, it's Katie," she sounded perky over the phone.

"Oh hey, um how did you get my number?" I inquired, this was a little creepy.

"Well, your niece gave it to me at the dealership, saying I should call you. It sounded like you might not call me and well I'm impatient." Katie told me and we shared a chuckle "I was hoping we could go out for a bite," she asked me out, that was a first for me.

"Um, ah sure," I promised Brie I would go out with her. I guess this just speeds everything up.

"Great! I was hoping we could meet up tonight, I have tomorrow off." Katie told me.

"Ok, sounds good, I took some time off so that's good with me," I responded as I watched Brie haul a dozen huge books into a backpack and throw it over her shoulder and near fall backward. I had to bite my tongue to stop from laughing, Brie caught me and gave me a dirty but determined look as she marched out to the truck.

"Sweet, I'll text you my address, say six?"

"Works for me, I'll see you later."

"Cool, can't wait," Katie sounded excited before hanging up. Alright, I guess I had a date tonight. I followed Brie out to the truck as she finished putting the backpack and her supplies into the cab.

I got in and started the truck, Brie gave me an expecting look. "So I have a date tonight," I told her after a tense handful of seconds.

Brie squealed in joy and hugged me across the seat. "I'm so happy for you Uncle Dex," she cooed in my ear.

"Thanks, Brie, but I can't help but wonder how much of a hand you had in it." I gave her a smirk.

"Well," Brie rolled her eyes away from me and bit her lower lip, fucking adorably might I add. "So my roommate and I talked through the summer, she mentioned her single cousin in town and I talked about you. We decided to put the two of you together and see if it takes off. So I might have been talking to Katie for a while now..." Brie confessed and I was slightly agitated but this wasn't the worst time I'd been set up. "Are you mad?" she asked after she finished.

"I'm slightly annoyed but I know you just want to help me, so you're forgiven," I told her and she squealed again before giving me another crushing hug.

"Ok come on, we've got work to do," Brie told me, and little did I know what she had in store for me. First was a haircut and beard trim, then shopping for clothes, which I hate, I've always hated. Brie made it fun at least, she tried on a couple of dresses and picked out a cute sundress with cartoon ice cream bars over it, she also bought a couple of bikinis, but I didn't see her in them.

We went back to the apartment after shopping and we made a late lunch. Brie and I ate sandwiches and she set out my clothes for the date. After squaring away her books and supplies we relaxed for a while before she practically pushed me into the shower. Once out I got dressed, Brie helped with my hair, which was shorter now, she slicked it to the side for me and I had to admit it looked better than it had in many years.

"Alright," Brie checked her watch. "Oh you should get moving, you want to be early and make a good impression." I chuckled at her.

"Thank you, Brie," I told her with a smile.

"Welcome!" She responded with a bright cheery smile at me. She gave me a quick kiss on my cheek. "Good luck!"

I felt pretty good leaving for my date, it was fast for sure, but I'd done enough thinking for a bit. I'm going to have fun, Katie seemed nice enough, why not have a nice meal and see what happens. Katie lived in a nice townhouse on the other side of town. It was tricky to find parking near her home but not impossible, this was one of the downsides of having a truck. Also, people asking you to help them move, that shit drives me crazy.

I walked up to the door and saw a note on the door-

Dex, just come in, the door is open.

Alright, I took the note off the door and walked in. "Hey!" I called out looking around. There was a set of stairs in front of me and a sitting room off to my right.

"OH!" Katie called out from above me. "I'm almost done, just have a seat."

"OK! Take your time!" I shouted back, I hadn't had to worry about this kind of thing for a long time, but it all comes back to you. Just like riding a bike, I thought to myself. I found a pretty comfortable armchair and relaxed for about ten minutes before Katie came down. She wore a nice dress, it was crimson with cherries on it, black flats, her hair was still in her short bob cut, and wore light makeup. "Wow you look really good," I told her.

Katie did a spin for me and I looked at her smooth legs. Katie was about a head shorter than me but she had very nice legs, a skinny waist, and was top-heavy with a pretty great set of breasts. Katie watched me look her over and gave me a smirk.

"So I'm guessing you like what you see?" Katie asked me with a chuckle. "Come on, I know a good place. It's not far, we can walk there."

"Sure," I replied, standing I followed her out of the house and down the street. "Have you lived in town long?"

"All my life, my parents sold me my childhood home before they moved to Florida. I added my touches but it's the same house still." Katie answered me, almost skipping down the sidewalk. "What about you?"

"It's been about four years, I took a job as a floor supervisor in a machine shop," I responded watching her skip.

"Well I'm glad you clean up nice, I'm sure you get pretty dirty working."

I shrugged at her before realizing that she was trying to flirt with me. "I mean it can get rough, but I can take care of myself." What was I saying?

"Hmm, that's good to know," Katie remarked as we got to an Italian cafe. We were seated quickly and ordered drinks. "So can I ask why a handsome, strong guy like yourself is single?" Katie inquired to me.

"I, ah lost my wife five years ago," I told her truthfully.

Katie was shocked and took my hand in hers. "I'm sorry, I didn't know." Katie was sympathetic. "Alex didn't tell me anything about you, other than that you were single and not far from home."

"It's ok, I honestly wasn't handling it well for a while, but Brie seems hellbent on helping me," I replied to her, we continued to hold hands, it was nice.