A mind that is stretched by new experiences can never go back to its old dimensions.
~Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.
***
Savannah looked out of the window as Zac maneuvered her car through the traffic on the road. Downtown LA traffic during the rush hours was horrible.
"What's gotten you so, Reece? Scared?"
"Scared of what? Meeting my own brother? Yeah, I don't think so. Just wondering how it's gonna go between the two of you. Running all the possible WWE-like scenarios in my mind, that's all."
A shadow crossed his face as he blanched. "Seriously?"
Glancing at him, she laughed. "I was simply pulling your legs, Mr. Sifton. Nothing like that. I'll make sure my brother has it all under control. He isn't the one to go against me, so you're safe. I got you." She saw him breathe in and out as he slowly brought the car to a halt near the signal, she had to swallow her laugh. "Oh, boy. Nervous, are we?"
"More than you can imagine. Last time I met your brother, he punched me square in the jaw, literally warning me to stay away from you. He'd said, and I quote, 'If you so much as lay a finger on her, I will make sure you end up not in the ER but in the ICU.' He's against me even laying a finger on you, and we both know I've done much more than that this past few weeks."
A small, shy smile touched her lips as she remembered exactly what they'd been up to. She had never known that she had such a bold, foxy side to her before she'd given herself completely to Zac and his wicked, wicked ways in bed—and a few other surfaces.
As he revved the car back to life, he continued, "We've barely been getting out of bed for these past few days. The first night itself we went three times—not that he needs to know what I'm doing to his sister, but still...I don't want to end up in the ICU, Reece. I really don't, but I wouldn't put it past your elder brother to do just that, if not more."
She laughed and reached over the center console to press a loving kiss on his cheek. "Aw, lover boy. Look, he won't do anything to you today. At least nothing physical. He'll be extremely hostile and standoffish towards you, but nothing more than that. Plus, you have two levels of protection—Mel and I, we both are on your side, remember?"
"Why would his wife be on our side? Does she not know what I've done to you?"
"She does. But she also has complete faith in me, that if I am in love with you, despite our history, I must have a damn good reason for it, and she respects it. She's always been on my team anyway, whenever it's me versus Dave, even when she doesn't know what it is that she's backing by supporting me. Plus, what you do with me is no different than what he does to Mel—you know how babies are made, don't you?"
"Shut up, Reece."
"Oh boy, I love you so much," she said on a laugh.
He turned a bit and leaned in to kiss Savannah short and sweet as the traffic slowed down.
Savannah moved away. "Uh-uh. Eyes on the road, boyfriend."
"You wish is my command, girlfriend." He glanced at her and flashed his boyish grin that made her heart sing in her chest.
Half an hour later, Zac pulled up in the garage of her brother's house. He felt extremely jittery as he descended the car, as though his nervous system was working on an adrenaline rush—a lot too many nerves. He knew only one effective way to reduce his nervousness to at least some extent.
He pulled his girlfriend towards him by her waist and kissed her, drowning her surprised yelp. He kissed her like his life depended on it—which wasn't untrue, his life did depend on it—on her. His lips toyed with hers endlessly until she finally moaned allowing his tongue to invade her mouth. The kiss was passionate and heated, and reckless and wild at the same time. He took as much as he gave. She wanted this torment to stop, but she also wanted it to go on and on and on and never cease.
When he tried to break away, she tightened her grip on his neck to keep him in place. Jesus, what was she up to? he thought. He bit on her lip causing her to gasp and took the opportunity to separate his lips from hers.
"The hell, Reece?" he asked, panting.
"I really enjoy kissing you, you know."
He groaned. "Wrong fucking timing, Reece. You know what you saying such things does to me."
Her voice was low and husky when she asked him, "I don't know. What does it do to you, Zac?"
He eyed her suspiciously. He knew what she was playing at. "It makes me want to fuck you on any and every surface I can get you on," he told her, straight up, unhesitatingly and was rewarded by her dazed intake of breath.
"Stop it!" She slapped his bicep. "We're outside my brother's house for Christ's sake."
"Like I don't know it," he commented. "Trust me, I know we're outside your brother's house. Shit! I kissed you so I could get my mind off it, and you just put it back there. Fuck."
"Aw, come on. I'll not let anything happen to you, okay? I'll be your knight in shining armor."
"That you already are, Reece. My knight in shining armor who saved me from my darkness."
She smiled her beautiful I'm-in-love-with-you smile that made his heart somersault in his chest. She clasped his hand in hers as she literally dragged him towards the entrance.
"Dave!" She launched himself at her brother as soon as the door opened.
"Hey, kiddo. How are you doing?"
"More than fantastic."
"That's great. Come in," he told her, not even looking in Zac's direction.
Savannah jabbed an elbow in his ribs as she entered. "Stop being hostile, Davian Reece. He is my boyfriend. You better be good to him or I'm leaving right this moment."
Dave's eyes turned to saucers at her threat. He cleared his throat. "Uh, why are you standing there? Come in, please."
Just as Zac came in, he noticed the wife—Melissa, if he wasn't wrong—walk in with Melvin—Levy. Savannah was right, the kid looked nothing like Melvin—Levy was far better suited as a name. And Savannah was right about the little fellow being fucking adorable too.
He watched as Levy gurgled happily looking at his aunt and held his arms out. Savannah gathered him into her arms and nuzzled his cheek, neck and anywhere she could reach. It was unbelievable that he was jealous of a three-month-old baby, but he was—incredibly so.
He wanted to be nuzzled like that too.
A soft smile touched his face when he saw his girlfriend blow raspberries and make funny faces, provoking a streak of gurgles from Levy. She looked so wonderful holding her nephew, he couldn't help but envision her as a mother, holding their child. He wanted that with her—their family, their own little world.
She came towards him, with Levy in her arms. Zac noted how Levy looked at Savannah, in complete fascination, like she was the most beautiful thing in the world—and that she was, he thought to himself.
Savannah cooed, "So he is my nephew. The king of my heart, Levy Reece. Levy, this is Zac. Say hi; say—hi."
Levy opened his mouth to try saying it but only a fit of giggles toppled out, making Savannah laugh and smooch a kiss on his cheek. She looked at Zac and asked, "So freaking cute, isn't he?"
"He is. Mr. and Mrs. Reece, you have a beautiful son," he managed to say in a leveled voice even though he was less than five minutes away from palpitating.
"Thanks. Savannah has told me so much about you," Mel told him, ignoring the wide-eyed stop-it look her sister-in-law was giving her, "and I finally get to meet you now."
"She has? When? I mean, we just got together."
"Oh, not now. Before that, for six whole months. She went on and on about how amazing you were, how changed you were. How wonderful you were with your sister. How dedicated towards your work you were. How she missed you, and your family. And eventually, she finally came to accept and admit her love for you. And after that," Melissa shook her head, "she was unstoppable once she started about you."
He turned his attention to Savannah, whose mortification was extremely visible on her face, and smirked. "I see. You never mentioned being obsessed with me, Reece."
"Reece? Savannah—Reece? Oh my! You two are so adorable, I'm swooning. He calls you Reece, doesn't he? Aww! That's so freaking cute," she raved.
Could this get any worse? thought Savannah.
"Come on, come on, let's eat. Uh, Zac, I have consciously avoided broccoli, per Savannah's request, so I hope you like everything else," Melissa announced.
It could, groaned Savannah.
"Oh...thanks." He waited for Melissa and Davian to walk ahead before he whisper-sneered in Savannah's ears. "How many times do I have to tell you—I. Like. Broccoli. Now."
"Well, Levy boy, we're hungry, aren't we? Well, Uncle Zac isn't, so off we go!" She hopped to the table with Levy in her arms making him laugh out loud.
The table conversation was mostly between Savannah, Zac and Melissa. Dave was consciously out of the picture. He didn't want anything to do with Zac. It was stupid—Savannah was suddenly in love with the guy who'd messed her so much, it's taken her years to get back up and fight.
It was mostly Melissa who asked questions, hoping to keep the conversation going. But now it was getting difficult for her as well. She was nearly out of questions to ask. Instead she said, "Well, Dave, you have nothing to say at all?"
Oh, no, both Zac and Savannah thought at the same time. Savannah looked at Zac to find him already looking at her with a save-me expression. They both looked at Dave then, hoping to God he'd keep quiet. Savannah nearly groaned when she heard him say, "Sure do."
Zac wanted to gulp when he saw Savannah's brother set the fork and knife down on his plate and scrutinize him with his hands clasped in front of him on the table. "So, Zac, what are your intentions with my sister? Because I swear to God, you won't get out of here alive if you have anything but good intent. You hurt her once, not again."
Oh, the answer to this one was easy. Zac looked at Savannah as he answered, "Honestly, Mr. Reece? I intend to make her Mrs. Sifton one day." He smiled at her softly, making Melissa clap enthusiastically as Levy followed suit.
However, Dave believed otherwise—he thought it was extremely sappy, his answer. But...never mind. Savannah would skin him alive if he said anything against Zac right now, she'd already warned him of it.
The rest of the dinner went well. Savannah and Melissa made sure of it. Both of them knew what would happen if they let Dave out of control.
As it happened, Levy too loved being in his aunt's arms, much like Zac. It was a regularity, it seemed. That would explain why she was pacing in his room, trying to put him to sleep—which he just wouldn't. As if the boy sensed another man staring at his beloved aunt, he turned his head and looked at Zac, and surprisingly held his arms out. Apparently the kid had taken to him too—very unexpected.
"You wanna hold him?" Savannah asked.
Zac stood up, and shaking his head made his way towards them.
"Why not?"
He brushed a finger on the kid's hairy top. "I'm scared to hold him. He's so small. What if I drop him, or break something? Jesus, no, I'm not holding him in my arms."
"Aw, come on, big man. He isn't that fragile. Plus, I'm here, nothing will happen. Levy, you also want him to hold you, right? You like this big guy, don't you?" She turned her attention back to Zac. "Come on, you can do this."
"I'll try." He did whatever Savannah told him to with his arms before she carefully placed the baby in them. He marveled at the feeling of holding such a small thing in his arms. He hadn't held a baby since Stella.
"Jesus Christ, he is so small. Oh God, he feels so nice," he gushed, making Savannah smile brightly at them. "Also, I wanted to thank you, bud. Thank you for making the love of my life realize that she loves me. I can never be grateful enough."
She watched them as Zac carefully shifted Levy in his arms so that now he was on his shoulder. Savannah could practically see him exhale the breath he was holding. In no time at all, Levy was fast asleep.
"Here, let me put him in his crib," she offered.
Zac smiled. "I can't believe I put him to sleep."
"Well, you did," she shrugged and then grinning.
They proceeded outside where Mel and Dave were waiting for them.
"Mels, he's asleep. I put him in the crib. Uh, we'll also get going. It's pretty late."
"Sure. Hey, wait up." Melissa cupped her hands around Savannah's ear and whispered, "He's gorgeous and amazing. I approve," making Savannah squeal in delight.
"Yeah. I mean, he's okay. Not that bad," Dave pitched in, surprising both of them "But you'll tell if he does something to you?"
"He won't. But yes, I promise," she said solemnly, clasping her brother's hand in both of hers.
"Good. See you soon, kiddo. Be safe, yeah? And don't waste all your time globe-trotting, come and visit us once or twice."
"Yes, sir!" she shouted as she and Zac left.
"It wasn't as bad as I thought," Zac thought aloud, once they reached her apartment.
"I know, right? It was a relief that my brother didn't pounce on you. Thank Christ."
"Now, do I have you all to myself?"
"Oh, yeah," she said and jumped on him.
—x—
"Well, Reece, you ready?" he hollered as he waited in his apartment.
"Yes! I'm coming."
She came out wearing a cream-colored pullover top on black jeans. Her pitch black hair in their perfect high-low cut came down to her shoulders. There were women who would've paired this outfit with angled boots or gladiators and then there was his girlfriend wearing black Chuck Taylors.
She saw him looking at her with an unreadable expression on his face. She just knew this wasn't a good outfit. Shit, she had to change. "I get it. Not good enough. I'll quickly go change. Be right back," she told him and jogged towards his bedroom.
He had loved the way she looked, and he'd be damned if he let her change. Nope, nothing doing. He made a dash for her and pulled her against him. "Reece, you look gorgeous. I love what you're wearing," he assured her and tucked her hair behind her ears.
"Seriously? You really think so, and not because you'll always think so?"
"Seriously. You look real pretty. Come on, let's go."
They walked hand-in-hand to the Sifton Villa. He could feel that she wasn't there with him, though.
"Hey, what's wrong? Why so jumpy?"
"What do you mean 'what's wrong'? We're going to meet your family today, Zac. I have every right to be jumpy."
"You forget, Reece, that they've already met you."
"They have, I know, but that was as Chef Reece, a woman doing her job. But today I'm going there as Savannah Reece, your girlfriend. Last time, it didn't matter if they liked me or not. This time it does."
"Jesus Christ, Reece. How do you not realize that they already love you? They adore you, sweetheart."
She chose to ignore the statement. "Does your mom, um, know about, uh...us?"
"She doesn't."
"No way! You haven't told her?" she all but yelled.
"I haven't. It's supposed to be a surprise. I just told them that I was back from L.A. and that I was coming home for lunch." He rang the bell thrice and waited.
"Well, then, fuck you, I guess," she said casually making him throw his head back and laugh.
"Tonight, you will, I promise," he whispered in her ear, earning an elbow jab right in his abdomen.
"Coming!" came Stella's voice from inside as did Clair's, saying, "That must be Zac, dear."
"Well, hello br—" Stella stopped dead as her eyes took in what—who—was standing beside Zac.
"Kiddo, meet my girlfriend, Savannah Reece." He pulled Savannah towards his side by her waist.
"What! Who did you say she is? Savannah Victoria Reece is your girlfriend? Ahh! Girlfriend!" Stella all but screamed in excitement and pulled a stunned Savannah into a bone-crushing hug. "Finally! You. Are. His. Girlfriend. Finally! Come in, both of you." She leaned toward Savannah as they walked side-by-side, completely ignoring Zac, and murmured, "I want to know all about how he courted you, okay?"
Savannah looked at her and nodded. One down, she thought, thinking about Stella's electrified welcome. She blanched again as Clair came into view. Suddenly, Zac was beside her with a possessive hand around her waist saying, "Mom, I'd like you to meet her again. As my girlfriend."
"At least I have a ray of hope for grandkids now. Thank God." She spun around and let out a chuckle. "About damn time—excuse my language for once. Savannah Reece. It was about time my son sorted things out with you. Good, very good. This is one of the rare times when I genuinely feel proud of my son. Honey, look who's here."
"Who is? Oh, get away, you silly dog," came Gerald's voice. This was the precise moment that Savannah realized and related to what Zac felt when he met her brother. Holy shit.
"Dad, meet the woman I intend to marry—provided I don't screw things up."
"You look mighty fine, Savannah Reece." He enveloped her in a bear hug so warm her eyes welled up with tears. She wiped them as she drew away—she didn't want anyone to see her emotional. But one look at Zac told her exactly what she didn't need to know—that he'd seen and understood everything. Well, okay.
"I still can't believe Zac took me up on my suggestion of keeping her in this house. Holy sh—Christ. I am freaking proud of you, brother. Fantastic choice."
"I have to agree with her on that, Zac," his mom said. She's possibly the only woman who possesses the capabilities to keep you on your toes and grounded."
"True. Welcome to the family, lass." Gerald groaned. "Well, if it isn't Willy trying to get attention."
"Oh my, Willow!" Savannah dropped down to her knees and laughed as Willow lapped at her face. She scratched the dog's ears and the dog happily yielded to her touch. "Oh, Willow, remember me? Yeah, yeah, baby, I'm Savannah. The same one you helped in the kitchen," she cooed, kissing Willy with equal fervor.
"Yes, my baby, I missed you too. So much. But now I'm here, aren't I? You and I are going to have such fun, we're gonna give everyone here a run for their money. Yes, yes. Okay, no, not going anywhere. Right here, I'm right here." Savannah decided it was best that she made herself comfortable on the floor, particularly since the gorgeous Golden Retriever showed no intentions of letting her go. So she maneuvered herself into sitting Indian-style, the dog still snuggled in her arms.
She then made the mistake of looking up only to see all the people looking at her—Zac, with a soft, knowing smile playing on his lips, and the others simply watching with awe. She didn't know what to do but smile sheepishly.
"How old are you, Savannah, once again?" Stella quizzed, her voice bleeding sarcasm.
"29 on the 14th, why?"
Completely forgetting her point, Stella squealed, "Your birthday is on Valentine's?"
Savannah's eyes automatically flicked to Zac, glistening with humor. "Yeah, it is."
"Do I sense an inside joke here?" she asked, her eyeballs bouncing between her brother and her—hopefully—sister-in-law.
"Well, she wants a tour, don't you, Reece?"
"Brother, do I need to point out that she'd stayed here for three whole months? She knows the whole house."
"Yeah, no, but she still needs a tour."
"So I needed a tour, huh?" Savannah asked rhetorically as they walked up the staircase.
"Yeah, you did. Only because I have plans and my folks were in the way."
"Oh, really? What plans?"
"You'll see. Come on." He stopped in front of a wall. "Remember this wall? It was where I first kissed you. You were so terrified. You'd gone all hyper-verbal on me. I'd been scared shitless, not understanding what I'd done wrong."
"Yeah. I'm sorry about that. It was just that you literally pounced on me and then kissed me senseless, I didn't know what to do. All of it just came flooding back, you know? I didn't understand why you'd kissed me, you know, given our history." She saw his face contort with guilt, so she hurriedly added, "But I'd be damned if I didn't enjoy that kiss. You're awfully good at all things female," in hopes of bringing a smile on his face.
"Oh, yeah?" He walked her backwards towards the wall slowly.
"Hell yeah."
And he kissed her, at the same place they'd first kissed. Relived and remade the memories. A place that had caused him so many guilt-trips would now be a place that would make him smirk smugly—because he was going to kiss her senseless and breathless.
When he finally parted his lips from hers, ceasing the torment, she looked up at him with a look so carnal, he couldn't look away. Her lips were parted, and she was breathing heavily, looking up at him from under her lashes. She had irises that were black—or a really dark gray, he didn't know—anyway, but now, with her pupils dilated and huge, it was difficult to separate her irises from her pupils. He wanted her—bad. And as much as he wanted to relieve the strain underneath his pants, he knew he couldn't just have a quickie right now, not when they were expected at the lunch table.
He was just happy that this wall would remind him of this look on her face, and not the terrified one.
Later that day, at night, as they lay beside each other on Zac's bed, she commented, "Your mom looked so happy today. Like, peacefully happy, you know?"
"Yeah. Because I'd been fucking waspish and saturnine for the past six months. She was on the verge of giving up on me when you returned."
"Can you tell me more about that time? I want to know..."
He sighed. "The day you left, it was kinda like it still hadn't registered, you know, that you'd said no and left me. It took time to sink in. When I told mom, you know what she'd said. And, well, Stel and Spence both took your side, asked me if I really thought you'd give me a chance without me having to prove that I'm worthy."
"Both of them? Wow, I wasn't expecting that. Yvonne, maybe, but Stella, not really. I always thought she favored you."
"I thought so too, until that day. It was all like a reality check. Then for a month I was a lost guy with no purpose whatsoever, roaming around aimlessly like a fucking drug addict. I used to drink myself to sleep almost every night for around two months. I thought about it quite a lot, you know...what it would've been like if I'd never said those words to you. Would we have been together this whole time—six years? Or we would've been just acquaintances until we met again for the gala thing and decided to be more? So many what-ifs. It was all so overwhelming. All my thoughts bugging me to death, all that self-hate for what I'd done to you.
"That overthinking phase got over in two months, and then the nightmares started. I'd dream of you—us—every night until I woke up because you were leaving me again and it was difficult to watch. Basically it was months and months of me moping over you. Everyone had practically given up on me by then. And then just when I also had given up on even the prospect of ever seeing you again, I landed up in LA and there you are. The last place I expected to run into you."
"Yeah, I didn't expect to see you there, either."
"But it was all worth it, you know?" He hugged her closer. "Having you here, by my side, right now, it's worth all of it."
She leaned up and pressed her lips to his cheek. "All's well that ends well, right? And you're here, that's all that matters."
"Well, now that I've opened up to you, I want to know what you did at that time."
"Me?"
"Yeah. Tell me everything I missed."
"After your gala, for about a month, I was doing my decoupage stuff. You know, the newspaper thingies you fawned over at my place in LA. Only that this was in New York. Then around August, I took off to Japan."
"Wow. Japan. What for?"
"Learning Japanese food and techniques and all that. The Japanese guys are such perfectionists, so meticulous in whatever they do. I mean, I won't be surprised if they use rulers to dice carrots so that they're identically and precisely cut. I had so much to learn there, it was just amazing. They do everything with chopsticks, or hands, it's just fascinating. That was the first time I missed you. I wanted someone I could tell this to at the end of every tiring day. And again and again, only you were the one that came to my mind. It was weird, considering that we'd never had that sort of a relationship before, even when I was here. So yeah. I had these urges to call you, damn everything else, and tell you about my day, but I controlled it. Pat on the back for that."
"Just so you know," he interrupted her, "I would've gladly listened to you tell me about your day, no strings attached, no pressure."
"Smooth. So that happened, I was in Japan for almost four months. Then I came back to LA for Christmas, earlier than needed, thank God. Otherwise I'd've missed Levy's birth. And then rest is history, I guess."
He turned over and kissed her deeply, hoping the kiss would distract her enough that he could escalate things a little bit. But damn his girlfriend, she was clever. She stopped him before things went too far.
"Nope, nope. No, no sex tonight."
"Why though?"
"We're at your parents' house, Zac. It's embarrassing."
"Everything is soundproof in here, no one will know, come on."
"No."
He sighed and fell back onto the mattress beside her. "You do realize that my parents might just be having sex in their room right now, don't you? But you won't let me."
"Jesus Christ, Zac. I did not need to know that." She groaned. "This mental image is never leaving me. You just scarred me for life, thank you."
"Shut up and sleep if you're not up for sex," he stated.
"Okay. Good night and sweet dreams." She turned to her side and closed her eyes. She knew he hated it when she moved away from him without telling him. He was a cuddler, all right.
And as expected, he turned over on his side too, and pulled her against his chest, spooning her close.
"You did not just do that."
"I love you and I'm in love with you, Zachary Maximilian Sifton," she cheekily digressed.
"You are going to be the death of me, woman. Sleep now," he said, nuzzling her neck as raining kisses on her face as she slipped into slumber.
—x—
Timeline: A few weeks after Chapter 24.
I hope you enjoyed the first In-Between. Please vote and comment if you did.
Thank you!!
Until next time...