Free Where I Belong (Alabama Summer) by J. Daniels Page A

I say, sitting up and motioning for Nolan to walk
over. He quickly scrambles in front of me and smiles. “Your sword, noble
knight.” I hold out my hand and he gives it to me without a question. “Look
down at the floor.” He does and I place the sword on his left shoulder. “I dub
you Sir Nolan, slayer of all the dragons in the kingdom.” I move the sword to
the opposite shoulder. “And protector of the realm.”
    He looks up at me with sheer exhilaration as I hand him back
his sword. “Daddy, I’m a wheal knight!” He runs over toward Ben, jumping up and
down enthusiastically. Ben drops his smile from me to Nolan. “I wanna go
swinnin now.” He runs out of the room and Ben rustles his hair as he passes by
him.
    “It looks like another Kelly boy has a crush on you,” Ben
states, crossing his arms over his chest. He looks incredible in just a T-shirt
and shorts and my mind is suddenly flooded with images of the dream I was
awakened from. Him above me, naked, driving me toward my pleasure at a
punishing pace. I shake those thoughts out of my head and focus on him which
doesn’t help me in the slightest. The way his muscles stand out, stretching the
thin material of his shirt that I want to shred to pieces, is currently making
me clamp my legs together underneath the sheet.
    I try to keep myself from blushing, but I feel the warmness
spread across my face. “He’s so cute. I had no idea you had a son.”
    “I’ve been told that we look alike, so I guess that means
that you think I’m cute, right?” I look away from him with a slight
smile. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.” I turn back just in time to see his grin
turn cocky, and I’d like to say that it doesn’t do anything for me, but it
does. Damn him and that face.
    “Daddy! I wanna go swinnin.” Nolan’s tiny excited voice
comes calling from the hallway.
    Ben turns his head to look down the hallway, straightening up
before he looks back at me. “The next time you need to be woken up, it won’t be
my son kissing you, Princess Mia.” His words are a promise that I don’t want to
react to, but I can’t deny the shiver that runs through me. He has all the
confidence in the world that he’ll be the one to wake me up with a kiss. And I
want to tell him that I’ll never let that happen, but I can’t seem to find the
words.
    I scramble out of bed once Ben leaves, and as I’m slipping
my favorite summer dress over my head, my mind begins to wander to memories of
the old Ben. The boy I remember that never willingly stepped into any room I
was in. The same boy that freaked out when he caught me in his.
    “You wanna listen to music while we lay out?” Tessa asks as
she skims the pool for bugs with the net.
    “Yeah, definitely.” I stretch out on my lawn chair,
shielding my eyes with my hand.
    “Well don’t just lay there, goof. Go get the stereo.”
    I sit up and smile. “Where is it?”
    “Ben’s room. I think it’s on his desk.”
    I lay back down. “Forget it. I’ll just hum to myself.”
    She giggles softly. “He’s not home. Just go in there and
grab it really quick. I wanna listen to my new Justin Timberlake CD.”
    Okay, I can do that. He won’t even know I was in there. “Alright. Be right back.” I swing my legs off the side and stroll into the
house.
    I stop outside Ben’s room and hesitantly turn the handle,
pushing it open. I’ve never seen the inside of his room. It’s off limits, which
is fine with me. I don’t want to be in here so I’m going to make this quick. I spot
the stereo on the desk and run around his bed to get to it.
    “Oh!” I trip over something, falling into the desk and
rattling everything on it. Including the stereo. “Oh no.” I reach for it but
it’s too late, and I watch with a sick feeling as the stereo hits the hard
floor. I clamp my eyes shut, but I hear the damage I’ve done. “Oh no,” I
whisper.
    “What are you doing?”
    My eyes shoot open and I spin around, coming face to