Better Man, chapter 18
Mike moved through the crowd gathered in Billie Joe's living room, a glass of champagne in his right hand, a slight skip in his step as he held his head high and smiled a little more happily to the other guests than he had earlier in the evening. He seemed to weave in and out of all the bodies when he stopped at one end of the room, taking a sip of his champagne. Looking over the rim of the glass, he spotted Caroline across the way, sitting on the edge of the couch with her legs crossed.
She seemed to have sensed his gaze as she looked over to him. And, for a brief moment, time stood still, but then sped back up again.
She sent him a knowing smile.
He smiled back.
* * *
Mike had Caroline pinned up against the bathroom door as she worked his shirt off his shoulders and pressed her lips down along his collar bone, kissing his salty skin while he hiked her dress up above her hips.
"Mike," she groaned.
* * *
"Mike," came a male voice.
The bassist turned his attention to see Alan, Billie Joe's older brother. "Hey, Al. How you doin'?"
"Good, good. Really lookin' forward to this new year, though. I dunno what it is, but I always like the idea of starting off with a clean slate, so to speak, you know what I mean?"
"Yeah," Mike nodded. "Yeah I do."
"So, what about you? I was goin' to talk to you earlier but you seemed to have disappeared," Alan commented. "How're you doing?"
"Awesome," Mike smiled. "I think this will be a great new year."
* * *
Their clothes began to fall away in a frenzied, yet calculated, manner while Mike's heart was pounding a million miles a second at the fact that he was with her.
"You're so beautiful," he mumbled against her lips as they kissed.
She looked him in the eye and then buried her face in his neck, wrapping her arms around his shoulders.
* * *
"You seem awfully chipper," Adrienne noted as she touched her hand to Caroline's shoulder. The older woman stood beside the seated Caroline who was holding a glass of champagne in her hands and meeting the hostess' gaze. "Earlier you seemed a little withdrawn and bummed out. What changed your mood?"
Caroline bit her lip and shrugged. "I, uh...I had, um...a bit of Arbor Mist. That always goes right to my head, mellows me out."
"Alright, but you just seem to have a certain glow going on. I was wondering if something good happened to turn your frown upside down," Adrienne smirked.
"Well, yeah. I guess you can say that," Caroline nodded. "But it was better than good." She smiled a little, looking at her hands. "It was great."
* * *
Mike covered Caroline's lips with his own as they became one, in order to muffle her whimpers and his groans. He paused for a moment as she rolled her head back and bit down hard on her bottom lip, closing her eyes as she let out a sigh of contentment.
Making love with Caroline was slow and languid at first, yet they exuded a sort of fervor and passion with each other, as well. Every movement seemed to be executed with precision; like Michaelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel.
Caroline wrapped herself tighter around Mike, craving him more and more of him. And she couldn't believe what a considerate lover he was.
Damn, he was...wow.
He was a considerate lover because he made sure every movement or touch or kiss was for her first, and then for him, second.
* * *
Mike walked through the crowd of guests once more so that he could get closer to Caroline who was now standing by the main archway into the living room, talking with Adrienne. He walked right by the two women, purposely -- albeit, subtly -- brushing his hand against Caroline's as he made his way into the kitchen.
Looking over her shoulder, Caroline watched as Mike sauntered out of the room, looking back, discreetly catching her eye, though not smiling.
His eyes said enough.
* * *
Soon it became a strained exercise to keep from crying out too loudly, given the guests near the bathroom might possibly hear. But, somehow, they managed.
Mike lifted his eyes to hers. He placed his mouth to hers and dragged his tongue along her upper lip, pushing in to graze her teeth and then biting down on her lip. He couldn't believe how much his heart felt like bursting right there.
He was making love to the woman he was in love with.
Mike wrapped his arms tighter around her body as he felt her body shudder against his, pressing his cheek to her cheek; listening at how her breath came out in ragged gasps as she came down.
"Ohhh, god...Caroline. I love you."
He held her in his arms, not wanting to let go...ever.
* * *
"It's almost New Years, guys!" Billie Joe announced.
"And girls," Adrienne added, with a smile generated toward her husband.
"And girls," he repeated.
Everyone gathered around the television in the living room as the clock on the upper, left hand corner of the screen read that there was ten minutes left until 2007.
Tre bit his bottom lip as he worked his way over to Caroline, placing his hand on the small of her back and kissing her earlobe. He smiled at her and she raised an eyebrow.
"What're you smiling about?" she asked, curiously.
"About how I get to be the one to give you your first kiss of the New Year, for a second time."
Caroline tilted her head and gave him a soft smile, hugging his side as he looked on toward the TV with the others, while Caroline let out a small sigh and gazed over to where Mike was standing with Jason White.
The two of them locked eyes and he winked.
* * *
Afterward, she surprisingly pulled him down to the tiled floor, laying him down.
"You planning on round two already?" he asked with a laugh. "'Cause, I mean, damn. Gimme a chance to catch my breath."
Grinning, she shook her head and laid down; half on top of him, half on her side on the floor next to him. Purposely tangling her right leg between both of his, she ran her hand up the side of his body opposite of her and kissed his bare, sweaty chest.
They laid there for a moment, not saying anything, just letting what happened sink in.
Caroline finally let out a satiated sigh as she lifted her head to look at him, propping her head up with her elbow. Mike turned his head slightly to look back at her, giving her an affectionate smile as he reached hand up to run it along her arm that laid across his chest, massaging her skin gently.
"What do we do now?" she asked, a moment of guilt flashing onto her face.
After a beat, Mike shrugged. "I honestly don't know," he admitted. "I do know I love you so much, but I also know so does Tre. And you're still his girlfriend."
"Yeah..." she muttered lamely.
"I want you to know that I'm not gonna make you choose me over him. You've been with him for a year, and I couldn't do that to you, despite what we did."
Caroline stared at down at him and then averted her hazel eyes to the spot where the sink met the floor. "I don't know what to do anymore. What to think or what to feel," she told him quietly. "I know that I'm one hundred percent positive I've never experienced sex like that before, though," she added with a small laugh.
"Thank you," he smirked happily. "You weren't so bad yourself."
"Gee, thanks," she repeated, moving her hand onto his chest and drawing circles in his chest hair.
After a moment of more silence, and just letting their eyes do the speaking, Mike lifted his arm and brushed some hair out of her face and back over her shoulder. All the while, he held her gaze, and gave her his soft smile.
"Can I be honest with you?"
"Well, you've already been inside me, so yeah...shoot."
Mike smirked, then licked his lips. "I don't want to let you go," he told her, his face turning a shade of serious. "Even though you're Tre's girl, I..." he trailed. "I need you, Care." Then added, "And I love you."
Her face fell a little. "Mike...please don't make say it back," she pleaded. "I'm still confused about how I feel."
"I understand that. I just want you to know how I feel."
"Believe me," she muttered. "I know. Now, tell me something..."
"Anything."
Caroline ran her hand down his chest, to his abdomen and, uh...lower, as her hand delicately rubbed against his manhood. "Is this the reason why you're the only one who hasn't shown off his assets to the world?"
"What do you mean?" he queried, trying his best not to get too aroused again.
"Well, I know for a fact that Billie has mooned and dropped his pants at concerts in the past. Even played completely naked once or twice. And Tre told me he's dropped 'trow' before."
"Yeah?"
"Well, is the reason you've never done any of those things because you didn't have anything lacking to make up for in showing off? Y'know. Overcompensating, so to speak."
"Not sure I know what you're getting at," he murmured with an impish grin.
Caroline gripped him a little harder. "Let me put it this way," she began. "You have no need to show the world your Johnson because all that matters is that you know you're the most, well-endowed one in the group?"
His eyes widened a tad. "I've never really had anyone say that before. And, well...I'm...you have no idea how flattering that is to a man."
Caroline giggled. "In that case, you're welcome."
She moved her hand off of his lower, uh, extremities, and placed it back in his chest as he cupped her face with both hands; his face become slightly serious. Casually, he pulled her down to him to kiss her.
It was a soft kiss; like light pecks, yet languid. Nothing rushed. Just savoring. And he kissed her like that several times in a row. Short, but deep kisses that were gentle and feverish at the same time. Really, words couldn't describe how they were. They were just...wonderful.
"Mmm..." Caroline smiled.
"I won't be able to kiss you when the clock strikes twelve, so I'm making up for it now..."
Again, Caroline just smiled.
* * *
"Twenty seconds!" Jakob shouted from his daddy's lap. Billie Joe smiled as he bounced his youngest son up and down to the beat of every second passing away, closer to the new year.
Caroline placed her arm around Tre's waist, not able to help herself but letting her mind linger to kissing Mike on the bathroom floor earlier, but also aware that Tre was holding her closely against him, very affectionately.
"10...9...8...7...6..." the countdown began. "...5...4...3...2...1! Happy New Year!" everyone shouted.
Caroline smiled and turned her face up toward Tre as he snaked his arms around her waist, cupped her ass and kissed her on the lips. "Happy New Year, babe," he muttered against her mouth.
"Happy New Year, Tre," she spoke in return.
"I'm sorry about earlier this evening."
She shook her head. "It's okay."
Smiling, Tre turned as someone tapped him on the shoulder. It ended up being Billie Joe, going around to make his, well, rounds. He was making it his mission in life, it seemed, or at least at the party anyway, to kiss every guest on the lips. Laying a big smackeroo on his drummer, Billie Joe laughed and then turned to Caroline, cupping her face and pressing his lips to hers.
"Happy New Years you lovebirds, you," he said.
Billie Joe was clearly a bit smashed.
But that wasn't uncommon on special occasions such as Christmas, New Years, birthdays...Wednesdays.
Tre shook his head and laughed as Adrienne came up beside them and gave Tre a kiss on the cheek while Jakob and Joey ran past her calling for their dad.
"Kids," she muttered with a laugh. "Boys, stop running!"
"Yeah," Billie Joe piped up, turning his head from having just kissed Jason. "There's drunk grown-ups who'll fall over if you bump into them!" he called out. "Me, included."
As Caroline and Tre became separated by the New Years well-wishings, Estelle came walk up to Caroline and touched her arm.
"Happy New Year, Caroline," Estelle said with a smile.
"Oh. Thanks, honey." Caroline leaned down and gave the soon-to-be ten-year-old a kiss on the cheek. And just as she stood up straight, she was looking at Mike who'd walked up to her. "Hey," she muttered as his daughter went scampering away.
"I got a kiss when the clock struck twelve, after all. Though, I'm not sure my daughter technically counts," he joked.
Caroline grinned. "Of course it does," she insisted. "She's your hero, isn't she?"
"Yeah," Mike nodded with a smirk. "That she is." Then, without another word, he leaned in and kissed her.
"Mike," she spoke, a little flustered, ready to chastise him.
"It's okay. Everyone's doing it." He tilted his head and rocked on his feet, stuffing his hands in his pockets. He leaned in once more, but to whisper in her ear. "I still wanted to give you a kiss at New Years anyway."
Caroline pulled back and looked at him.
Mike just smiled.
She seemed to have sensed his gaze as she looked over to him. And, for a brief moment, time stood still, but then sped back up again.
She sent him a knowing smile.
He smiled back.
* * *
Mike had Caroline pinned up against the bathroom door as she worked his shirt off his shoulders and pressed her lips down along his collar bone, kissing his salty skin while he hiked her dress up above her hips.
"Mike," she groaned.
* * *
"Mike," came a male voice.
The bassist turned his attention to see Alan, Billie Joe's older brother. "Hey, Al. How you doin'?"
"Good, good. Really lookin' forward to this new year, though. I dunno what it is, but I always like the idea of starting off with a clean slate, so to speak, you know what I mean?"
"Yeah," Mike nodded. "Yeah I do."
"So, what about you? I was goin' to talk to you earlier but you seemed to have disappeared," Alan commented. "How're you doing?"
"Awesome," Mike smiled. "I think this will be a great new year."
* * *
Their clothes began to fall away in a frenzied, yet calculated, manner while Mike's heart was pounding a million miles a second at the fact that he was with her.
"You're so beautiful," he mumbled against her lips as they kissed.
She looked him in the eye and then buried her face in his neck, wrapping her arms around his shoulders.
* * *
"You seem awfully chipper," Adrienne noted as she touched her hand to Caroline's shoulder. The older woman stood beside the seated Caroline who was holding a glass of champagne in her hands and meeting the hostess' gaze. "Earlier you seemed a little withdrawn and bummed out. What changed your mood?"
Caroline bit her lip and shrugged. "I, uh...I had, um...a bit of Arbor Mist. That always goes right to my head, mellows me out."
"Alright, but you just seem to have a certain glow going on. I was wondering if something good happened to turn your frown upside down," Adrienne smirked.
"Well, yeah. I guess you can say that," Caroline nodded. "But it was better than good." She smiled a little, looking at her hands. "It was great."
* * *
Mike covered Caroline's lips with his own as they became one, in order to muffle her whimpers and his groans. He paused for a moment as she rolled her head back and bit down hard on her bottom lip, closing her eyes as she let out a sigh of contentment.
Making love with Caroline was slow and languid at first, yet they exuded a sort of fervor and passion with each other, as well. Every movement seemed to be executed with precision; like Michaelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel.
Caroline wrapped herself tighter around Mike, craving him more and more of him. And she couldn't believe what a considerate lover he was.
Damn, he was...wow.
He was a considerate lover because he made sure every movement or touch or kiss was for her first, and then for him, second.
* * *
Mike walked through the crowd of guests once more so that he could get closer to Caroline who was now standing by the main archway into the living room, talking with Adrienne. He walked right by the two women, purposely -- albeit, subtly -- brushing his hand against Caroline's as he made his way into the kitchen.
Looking over her shoulder, Caroline watched as Mike sauntered out of the room, looking back, discreetly catching her eye, though not smiling.
His eyes said enough.
* * *
Soon it became a strained exercise to keep from crying out too loudly, given the guests near the bathroom might possibly hear. But, somehow, they managed.
Mike lifted his eyes to hers. He placed his mouth to hers and dragged his tongue along her upper lip, pushing in to graze her teeth and then biting down on her lip. He couldn't believe how much his heart felt like bursting right there.
He was making love to the woman he was in love with.
Mike wrapped his arms tighter around her body as he felt her body shudder against his, pressing his cheek to her cheek; listening at how her breath came out in ragged gasps as she came down.
"Ohhh, god...Caroline. I love you."
He held her in his arms, not wanting to let go...ever.
* * *
"It's almost New Years, guys!" Billie Joe announced.
"And girls," Adrienne added, with a smile generated toward her husband.
"And girls," he repeated.
Everyone gathered around the television in the living room as the clock on the upper, left hand corner of the screen read that there was ten minutes left until 2007.
Tre bit his bottom lip as he worked his way over to Caroline, placing his hand on the small of her back and kissing her earlobe. He smiled at her and she raised an eyebrow.
"What're you smiling about?" she asked, curiously.
"About how I get to be the one to give you your first kiss of the New Year, for a second time."
Caroline tilted her head and gave him a soft smile, hugging his side as he looked on toward the TV with the others, while Caroline let out a small sigh and gazed over to where Mike was standing with Jason White.
The two of them locked eyes and he winked.
* * *
Afterward, she surprisingly pulled him down to the tiled floor, laying him down.
"You planning on round two already?" he asked with a laugh. "'Cause, I mean, damn. Gimme a chance to catch my breath."
Grinning, she shook her head and laid down; half on top of him, half on her side on the floor next to him. Purposely tangling her right leg between both of his, she ran her hand up the side of his body opposite of her and kissed his bare, sweaty chest.
They laid there for a moment, not saying anything, just letting what happened sink in.
Caroline finally let out a satiated sigh as she lifted her head to look at him, propping her head up with her elbow. Mike turned his head slightly to look back at her, giving her an affectionate smile as he reached hand up to run it along her arm that laid across his chest, massaging her skin gently.
"What do we do now?" she asked, a moment of guilt flashing onto her face.
After a beat, Mike shrugged. "I honestly don't know," he admitted. "I do know I love you so much, but I also know so does Tre. And you're still his girlfriend."
"Yeah..." she muttered lamely.
"I want you to know that I'm not gonna make you choose me over him. You've been with him for a year, and I couldn't do that to you, despite what we did."
Caroline stared at down at him and then averted her hazel eyes to the spot where the sink met the floor. "I don't know what to do anymore. What to think or what to feel," she told him quietly. "I know that I'm one hundred percent positive I've never experienced sex like that before, though," she added with a small laugh.
"Thank you," he smirked happily. "You weren't so bad yourself."
"Gee, thanks," she repeated, moving her hand onto his chest and drawing circles in his chest hair.
After a moment of more silence, and just letting their eyes do the speaking, Mike lifted his arm and brushed some hair out of her face and back over her shoulder. All the while, he held her gaze, and gave her his soft smile.
"Can I be honest with you?"
"Well, you've already been inside me, so yeah...shoot."
Mike smirked, then licked his lips. "I don't want to let you go," he told her, his face turning a shade of serious. "Even though you're Tre's girl, I..." he trailed. "I need you, Care." Then added, "And I love you."
Her face fell a little. "Mike...please don't make say it back," she pleaded. "I'm still confused about how I feel."
"I understand that. I just want you to know how I feel."
"Believe me," she muttered. "I know. Now, tell me something..."
"Anything."
Caroline ran her hand down his chest, to his abdomen and, uh...lower, as her hand delicately rubbed against his manhood. "Is this the reason why you're the only one who hasn't shown off his assets to the world?"
"What do you mean?" he queried, trying his best not to get too aroused again.
"Well, I know for a fact that Billie has mooned and dropped his pants at concerts in the past. Even played completely naked once or twice. And Tre told me he's dropped 'trow' before."
"Yeah?"
"Well, is the reason you've never done any of those things because you didn't have anything lacking to make up for in showing off? Y'know. Overcompensating, so to speak."
"Not sure I know what you're getting at," he murmured with an impish grin.
Caroline gripped him a little harder. "Let me put it this way," she began. "You have no need to show the world your Johnson because all that matters is that you know you're the most, well-endowed one in the group?"
His eyes widened a tad. "I've never really had anyone say that before. And, well...I'm...you have no idea how flattering that is to a man."
Caroline giggled. "In that case, you're welcome."
She moved her hand off of his lower, uh, extremities, and placed it back in his chest as he cupped her face with both hands; his face become slightly serious. Casually, he pulled her down to him to kiss her.
It was a soft kiss; like light pecks, yet languid. Nothing rushed. Just savoring. And he kissed her like that several times in a row. Short, but deep kisses that were gentle and feverish at the same time. Really, words couldn't describe how they were. They were just...wonderful.
"Mmm..." Caroline smiled.
"I won't be able to kiss you when the clock strikes twelve, so I'm making up for it now..."
Again, Caroline just smiled.
* * *
"Twenty seconds!" Jakob shouted from his daddy's lap. Billie Joe smiled as he bounced his youngest son up and down to the beat of every second passing away, closer to the new year.
Caroline placed her arm around Tre's waist, not able to help herself but letting her mind linger to kissing Mike on the bathroom floor earlier, but also aware that Tre was holding her closely against him, very affectionately.
"10...9...8...7...6..." the countdown began. "...5...4...3...2...1! Happy New Year!" everyone shouted.
Caroline smiled and turned her face up toward Tre as he snaked his arms around her waist, cupped her ass and kissed her on the lips. "Happy New Year, babe," he muttered against her mouth.
"Happy New Year, Tre," she spoke in return.
"I'm sorry about earlier this evening."
She shook her head. "It's okay."
Smiling, Tre turned as someone tapped him on the shoulder. It ended up being Billie Joe, going around to make his, well, rounds. He was making it his mission in life, it seemed, or at least at the party anyway, to kiss every guest on the lips. Laying a big smackeroo on his drummer, Billie Joe laughed and then turned to Caroline, cupping her face and pressing his lips to hers.
"Happy New Years you lovebirds, you," he said.
Billie Joe was clearly a bit smashed.
But that wasn't uncommon on special occasions such as Christmas, New Years, birthdays...Wednesdays.
Tre shook his head and laughed as Adrienne came up beside them and gave Tre a kiss on the cheek while Jakob and Joey ran past her calling for their dad.
"Kids," she muttered with a laugh. "Boys, stop running!"
"Yeah," Billie Joe piped up, turning his head from having just kissed Jason. "There's drunk grown-ups who'll fall over if you bump into them!" he called out. "Me, included."
As Caroline and Tre became separated by the New Years well-wishings, Estelle came walk up to Caroline and touched her arm.
"Happy New Year, Caroline," Estelle said with a smile.
"Oh. Thanks, honey." Caroline leaned down and gave the soon-to-be ten-year-old a kiss on the cheek. And just as she stood up straight, she was looking at Mike who'd walked up to her. "Hey," she muttered as his daughter went scampering away.
"I got a kiss when the clock struck twelve, after all. Though, I'm not sure my daughter technically counts," he joked.
Caroline grinned. "Of course it does," she insisted. "She's your hero, isn't she?"
"Yeah," Mike nodded with a smirk. "That she is." Then, without another word, he leaned in and kissed her.
"Mike," she spoke, a little flustered, ready to chastise him.
"It's okay. Everyone's doing it." He tilted his head and rocked on his feet, stuffing his hands in his pockets. He leaned in once more, but to whisper in her ear. "I still wanted to give you a kiss at New Years anyway."
Caroline pulled back and looked at him.
Mike just smiled.
