Challenge Accepted Ch. 09

Josh lifts me by the shoulders and kisses me hard as he pushes me against the wall. Then, grabbing my ass, he pulls me into him. My arms instinctively go around his neck, and we stand under the steaming stream of water, making out.

"Let's take this to the bed," Josh suggests.

"Uh-huh," I respond weakly.

After drying off, we climb into bed. Josh hovers over me, holding my hands over my head. Leaning down, he kisses me hard, and our tongues duel.

Josh pulls away, smiles, and says, "I'm not influencing your decision, am I?"

"Maybe."

"Maybe I should stop then."

"You can't."

"Why not?"

"I won't let you." I push Josh off me and wrestle him to his back. Sitting astride him, I place his arms over his head and pin his hands down.

Leaning down, I get close to his ear and whisper, "I choose you, Josh. I chose you a long time ago, and there is nothing you can do about it. I'm yours, and you are mine. I love you."

Looking into his gleaming eyes, I haven't seen him smile this big in a very long time.

"I love you too, Jenny. You're right. I am yours."

Sliding down to meet his hard cock, I lift myself a little and guide him inside me. When I sit up, his cock drives deep inside me. I love this! No. I crave it. Letting go of his arms, I rest my hands on his pecs and bounce on him. When I come down hard, it buries him deep. I hold that position and then swipe my clit against his abdomen. Fuck, this feels good! I gyrate my hips as I bounce, and I'm close. Josh reaches up and holds my tits as I fuck him. When he pinches my nipples, that's all it takes. I climax hard. The dam breaks, and warmth fills my entire being. I see stars and get light-headed. I don't realize how much I'm perspiring until I collapse and the sweat gets trapped between us.

Before falling asleep, the last thing I remember is Josh's arms around me, holding me tight against him. It's dark outside when I wake up. Josh is on his back, and I'm on my side, lying against him. My leg is over his, with my knee resting against his soft shaft. Content, I take a deep breath and then fall back asleep.

I'm awakened again by gulls squawking and the ocean lapping against the shore. Then I hear Josh breathing...and his heartbeat. I try to snuggle against him, but I'm already as close as physics will allow. The grey of dawn seeps into the room, and now I'm fully awake. I don't want to move because I don't want to wake Josh. I don't know how I could live each day and not wake up next to him. He is my life, my breath, my love. Why is Dad trying to force me to leave the man I love? Anger begins to well inside me, but I push it away. All I want to do right now is enjoy this moment with Josh. I drift off again until Josh moves. I try to move closer to him again to no avail.

Josh slides his arm under me and pulls me against him, and kisses me on the forehead. Pure love fills my entire being. That's when I realize that besides being my love, Josh is my addiction. I need him, and I want him. Josh is my soulmate, and there is nothing and nobody that will take him away from me.

We eventually crawl out of bed and get ready for our day. We have a lot to do, but we have all day to do it and all day to spend with each other. I'm going to relish each and every moment we have together.

When we get home from shopping, we put the grill together and get everything ready to cook. Josh prepares different dry rubs for the steaks and the chicken and then leaves them in the fridge to marinate. Cooking with Josh is fun. I've never really prepared my own meals before, so he teaches me as we go along. We finish getting things ready about an hour early, so we take a walk along the beach. The salt spray is refreshing, the sand is warm, and listening to the ocean is soothing. It's almost mesmerizing and hypnotic. Josh has his arm around my waist as we stroll along the edge of the surf. That's when it really hits me. Josh wants to marry me. ME! I try not to get giddy, but the happiness boils over, and I can't wipe the smile from my face. Not that I want to.

"I'm going to ask your dad to help me grill the meat today," Josh says.

"I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why? I have never done it before, and I could use some advice."

"Not his."

"Why?"

"Josh, the man is a terrible cook. Whenever he barbeques, the meat is dry and leathery."

"C'mon, it can't be that bad."

"Trust me. It is."

"Okay, how about I just ask him to help me get the fire going?"

"I guess, but I'm warning you," I say with a chuckle.

After climbing the stairs to the back deck, we wash the sand from our feet and dry them before going inside. About fifteen minutes later, there's a knock at the door. It's my mom and dad. I invite them in and take them out to the deck to relax under the umbrella. A few minutes later, Josh joins us. After Josh's parents arrive, Josh asks my dad to help him arrange the charcoal and light the grill. Dad is more than happy to impart his wisdom, and when they finish, Josh lights the coals and waits for them to get hot.

"Charcoal? Not Gas?" Josh's dad asks.

"If you're going to cook with gas, you might as well be inside," Josh quips.

They both chuckle as Josh goes inside to get the meat. It's a good dinner, and everything goes smoothly.

When everyone is finished eating, I look at Dad and say, "Dad, let's go for a walk."

"Sure, Sweetheart." He takes Mom by the hand and walks towards the stairs.

"Dad, just you and me."

Mom looks at Dad and then at me with a worried look on her face. I make the same gesture to her that she made to me yesterday, letting her know that things will be fine. Josh and our moms finish cleaning up while John kicks back with a beer in his hand, watching the peaceful sunset. I take Dad's hand, and we walk down to the shore. I want to be close to the water so nobody will hear us in case it gets loud.

"Dad, are you seriously going to make me choose between our family and Josh?"

"Not between us and Josh, Dear. Between California and home. We need you back at home. You're too far away from us out here."

"Asking me to choose between California and Nebraska is asking me to choose between you and Josh. What would have happened if Grandpa were to have had Mom make that decision when you wanted to marry her. How would that have made you feel? How would that have made Mom feel?"

"That's different, Jenny. He didn't need to because we already lived close to each other at the time."

"You know I have offers to work in Boston, right? What if I were to choose one of those jobs instead. Would you make the same demands?"

"Of course I would, Jenny. Boston isn't right for you. You're a country girl. You belong in the country, not in the city."

"So, your problem isn't with Josh then?"

"Well...not exactly with Josh, no. It's just you're so far away from home."

"Okay. Say I do move back to Ceresco? You do realize that I will not live with you and Mom, right?"

"Of course. You'll have your own place, your own family."

My own family? What family? I'm not marrying anyone from there! "Okay. So, I live in Ceresco. Are you going to be spending every day at my house?"

"Of course not, Jenny. Don't be ridiculous."

"So how often do you expect us to see each other during the week then?"

"Well, at least for Sunday dinner. I don't know how often we'll see each other...a few times a week maybe?"

"Is that how often Mom spent with Grandpa when you got married?"

"Of course not. We had a farm to run, things to take care of. Chores and responsibilities."

"But that's what you expect from me, Dad. Don't you see how unrealistic your demands are? Don't you see that you're trying to keep me under your thumb? You said yourself that I'm too smart to be under someone else's thumb, Dad. Doesn't that include you too?"

"No. Jenny. No. That's not what I'm trying to do. I'm trying to protect you."

"Protect me, Dad? From what? So now, it's not that you want me to live near you, it's that you're trying to protect me?

"Well...no...yes...but--"

"There are no buts here, Dad. You either are, or you aren't. So what's the real problem here? Are you trying to smother me and keep me from having my own life? What is it that you want from me?"

"Jenny. Your mom and I just want you to be happy. To be back home where you belong."

"I'm happy here, Dad. I don't belong there. I will never belong there again. I love you, Dad. I'm your little girl. I love Mom, and I love our family. But you're telling me that I have to forfeit the family I love if I choose to be with the man I love. That's what you're doing, Dad...can you see that?"

"No. Jenny. It's not like that. Come home. Fall in love with someone there. We need you."

"Dad, I need you too. I need, Mom. I need our family. But I'm not going to fall in love with someone back home, Dad. I'm just not. I'm already in love, here, with Josh. Please don't make me choose between you and him. Just as Mom would have chosen you, I will choose Josh. The ball is in your court, Dad. The choice is now yours. You choose to have me as a daughter or to lose me as your daughter."

"How dare you!"

I'm seething. I'm angrier right now than I have ever been. I realize that I have my father's temper and that it's been dormant all these years. Now it's about to come out. "No, Dad! How dare you! I am your daughter. I am your little girl. How dare you choose to abandon me when I need you and Mom the most? I love you, and I love our family. But you won't accept that. Well, this time, Dad...it's not your way or the highway. It's my way, and you live with it, or you choose to abandon me. What's your choice, Dad? Do you love your little girl?"

Dad's face turns red, and the veins in his neck and forehead bulge. I've never seen him this angry, but on the other hand, he's never seen me this mad either.

"What about the plan? About the farm? You're going to choose to abandon your family and our farm?"

"No, Dad! I've already agreed to take care of the farm finances. I am not abandoning you or the family. I don't need to be sitting at your kitchen table to take care of the business. I can do that from here. You and Mom sent me out here to be educated. Well, I'm educated. I am my own woman; I will make my own decisions. You can have me as your daughter, or you can leave me. What is your choice, Dad?"

"Jenny, Sweetheart--"

"Don't call me Sweetheart until you're ready to accept me as your daughter. Until you're ready to understand that you can have me as your little girl, as your accountant, and as part of the family. Not until you're ready to accept that I can be happy and have a family of my own and not live in Ceresco."

"Jenny--"

"Dad!"

The redness in my dad's face fades, and his veins recede. Have I truly beaten my father at his own game? I didn't bring him down here intending to stand my ground like this, but that's what happened. Dad slumps down into the sand, and I sit next to him, putting my arm around his shoulders.

"Dad, I love you. You are my hero. You are the man who taught me to be the person I am today. I can't live my life without you. Don't break my heart and leave. Please, Dad. Don't do it."

Dad just sits there staring at the sand and the tide as a tear trickles down his cheek. I've never seen my dad cry before, and it breaks my heart.

I kiss him on the cheek and give him a hug. "Dad...I love you. I will always love you. Regardless of what you decide, know that I will always love you."

He turns and looks at me. His eyes are red and wet. "You'll come to visit?"

"Of course, Dad. Of course, I'll visit. Josh and I have talked about buying a house in Ceresco. Not to live in, but to have a place to stay when we visit."

"And the grandkids? You'll bring them out too?"

"When we're ready to have children, of course, Dad. We'll even send them out during the summers so you can teach them to work on the farm. What an opportunity for them to be able to choose which family business they'll want to be part of."

"Jenny...Sweetheart...I love you and don't want to lose you."

"Good, Dad. Because I don't want to lose you either."

"Fine. I give you my blessing. You and Josh can get married. I'm not happy about it, but I understand."

"Thank you, Daddy. There are two more things."

"More?"

"Yes. First, you have to tell Josh that he can marry me. Second, you have to treat him like a son, not an outsider, but a son."

"But--"

"No buts, Dad."

"Fine. But when you guys come to visit, he'll have to pitch in and help out on the farm."

"He'll be more than happy to help, Dad. Of course, you'll have to teach him, but he's a quick learner and will do it."

"Fine, Jenny. Fine," he says in a defeated tone.

"Thank you, Daddy. You don't know what this means to me. How about we go back and join everyone else now?"

"Sure...yeah. Sure."

We get back to the house just as Josh's parents tell us they have to go, leaving us alone with my parents.

Dad walks over to Josh and extends his hand to shake it. "Welcome to the family, Son."

Josh's face is priceless. I wish I had a camera right now. I'll never get that look again, I'm sure. Mom's face is just as good. I don't know if I could focus the camera even if I had one, though, because of the tears in my eyes.

"Thank you, Sir. Thank you," Josh answers.

Mom and Dad want to go sightseeing tomorrow, so we arrange to pick them up at nine and take them wherever they want to go.

When they walk out the door, Josh turns to me and asks, "What was that all about?"

"Well...we're buying that house in Ceresco. You're going to learn to work on the farm. I'm staying here to be an accountant. And if you ever get the guts, you're going to ask me to marry you."