“Nope, stop right there! Josh is like a brother to me now, and I don’t want to hear you daydreaming about his oral gifts. No way, Ash. Now you have me thinking about him going down on you. You know I’m a visual person, for fuck’s sake.” I try to clear the image from my mind by pounding the rest of my drink. “I’m so happy for you though, Ash. I want you to find what I have in Zander. You are the best person I know, and all I want for you is to be happy. Look at us getting all sappy and shit. Alcohol always makes us crybabies.”
“You always have been an emotional drinker. You got married the last time you drank. I’m still not completely sold on starting a relationship right now. I think I’m still going to give it time, form a friendship before we enter into anything serious. I’ve always gone head first into relationships without knowing the guy. I’m not making that mistake with Josh. He’s…different.”
Leaving it at that, we decide we’ve packed enough for the night, meaning barely anything, and head to the couch for a marathon of Friends.
Three episodes and four more drinks in, we are completely shit-faced.
“You see that, Sav? They were on a break. He thinks it’s all good, just going around banging whores on a little tiny break. If he still loved her, he wouldn’t have fucked some floozy!”
“I know, right? Ross is such an asshole, even though he’s secretly my favorite.”
I take a swig of my drink, run and grab a cardboard box, throw it on my back, and start waddling around. “I’m the holiday armadillo!”
Ash spits out the sip she just took, and it flies all over the place. I fall backward, landing on the box with a thud. “Ouch,” I mumble as we both start laughing so hard we start to cry. Our crying turns into wails of despair, and she runs over and jumps on the box with me, crushing it between us and the floor even more.
“Savvy, I’m going to miss you so freaking much. Do you have to leave me? We can run away and become nuns.”
“I don’t think the sisterhood would want us, Ash. They don’t really take people in like they do in the movies. I’m going to miss you too, so freaking much. Who am I going to talk to when I have a bad day? Who is going to understand the pain of the monthly demon itself and bake me brownies? Oh em gee! Who am I going to dance it out with?”
“First, I will always be here to talk to. We’re only going to be couple miles apart, and we will still see each other every day at the bar. I will still make you your monthly brownies, and Zander could never stop us from having our impromptu dance parties. They are sacred, dammit!”
We just sit here on the crushed box, drunk out of our minds, embracing each other. The next thing I know, I hear a throat clear. I peek one eye open and immediately close it when it’s met by bright sunlight.
Sweet Jesus! Did a Mack truck run me over while I was sleeping? Every inch of me hurts. Realizing I fell asleep in Ashlyn’s arms on the floor, I groan out loud, emphasizing my pain. I try to roll over onto the hardwood floor away from the box beneath us. When I roll, Ashlyn follows and lands right on top of me.
“What the hell?”
We groan a few times while trying to extract from each other, and we start to hear laughter. Looking in the direction of the noise, we notice Zander, Josh, Jay, and Kyle all standing near the front door, trying not to burst out laughing. I drop my head to the floor; the ground can gladly swallow me whole right now. My head hurts too much to deal with this.
Ash gets off me with help from Josh, and then I’m being lifted into the air by Zander.
“Whoa there, buddy, stop all the movement.” I beg when my stomach starts to turn.
“Sorry baby, how much did you guys drink last night?” He looks around and sees all of the empty liquor bottles. “Please tell me you didn’t need that much alcohol to convince yourself to live with me. My ego can’t take it.”
I can’t help it, I start to laugh. “I needed that much alcohol to convince myself not to bring Ash with me.”
He kisses me on the cheek and places me on the couch. “Okay, so here’s the game plan. My house is fully furnished, so we don’t need any of your furniture unless there is something here that means something to you. Décor is a different story because well, I’m a guy, and I don’t care about that stuff. So, any pictures or other girly shit that goes on the walls that will help make our house a home, pack those fuckers up. The boys are going to start with packing up your room, seeing as you barely packed anything last night.”
He leans down to my ear and whispers, “Is there anything incriminating you don’t want any of my brothers seeing?”
It’s like he knows me so well. I look at him shyly. “Maybe I should do a run-through of my room really quick.” I jump up, and if it wasn’t for Zander catching me, I’d have fallen over.
“I’ll come with you, baby.” He carries me to my room and puts me down on the bed. “Okay, where are Savvy’s dirty little secrets?” he questions me, rubbing his hands together.
I cover my eyes with my hand and point to my nightstand with my other one, thoroughly embarrassed at what he’s about to see. He opens the top drawer, and his eyebrows rise in shock.
“Now this I can work with. These are definitely coming with us.”
He starts pulling out each vibrator and dildo one by one, examining each. He pulls out a set of handcuffs with an excited look on his face, and I immediately feel heat rise up my cheeks. The sex has been phenomenal with Zander, but I haven’t shared my extensive toy collection with him yet. We always sleep at his house if we’re together because he has a bigger, more comfortable bed. Not to mention, there’s no Ashlyn yelling through the door while we’re getting it on. It’s not that I’m a closet sex freak—well, maybe I am—I just learned a lot about this stuff from Aunt Cheryl, so I was more likely to experiment with things than most. I have never been able to get off without the aid of one of my trusty toys until I experienced sex with Zander.
“You know about my upbringing and the stories I have told you about my aunt, so you can’t be that surprised. I didn’t need to bring them into our sex life because you’re the only guy who has ever been able get me off with just your cock. Would it freak you out if I told you I have fantasized about you using some of those on me…and me using some of them on you?”
His eyes immediately widen in shock and surprise.
“Baby, I will 100% be using these on you. The thought alone has me so fucking hard right now. But nothing will be going up my ass, no matter how much you love it. But we can be…creative. Now that I know you’re into all of this...” He shakes his head as a small smile plays on his lips. “Yeah, these are definitely coming home with us.”
After he’s done boxing up the toys, I make him throw my bras and panties in the same box. I don’t need his brothers seeing my unmentionables, especially Jayden. He personally brings that box to his truck while his brother’s start to help me pack my room. I don’t know how much help I’m really being since I’m moving at a snail’s pace, trying to pull myself together before Ash and I leave for work.
Knowing that I’m in the way, I go to the desk in my bedroom and grab some sticky notes. I walk around the house and put a sticky note on all the things I want to take with me, making sure to take the things that Ashlyn could care less about.
Before I know it, my whole life is packed into several cardboard boxes, and I feel my eyes start to well up with more tears. I can’t believe this is really happening, that this is no longer going to be my home. I walk out to the living room to find Ash and when our eyes meet, she knows. She walks over to the iPod dock and puts on Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way,” one of our favorites. She cranks it up, and we start to dance. We dance all our emotion out as we twirl and move around the living room. About halfway through the song, we notice all the brothers watching us hesitantly from the hallway. Ash and I go over and grab Zander and Josh, pulling them into the living room to dance with us. They bust out some dance moves, surprising the hell out of us. I’m so happy Zander has rhythm, although I shoul
d have known he’d be a great dancer from the way he moves in the bedroom.
Never one to miss having the attention on him, Jayden jumps up on the coffee table and starts to gyrate his hips back and forth like he’s Magic Mike. Everyone starts booing him until he jumps off of the table laughing. We all end up smooshed together on the couch.
“I love our little family,” I say to everyone. I look over to the clock and realize it’s 11:15 a.m., and I groan.
“Well boys, it’s been a blast, but Ash and I have to head into work. Don’t hurt yourselves too much moving all of my stuff.”
I kiss Zander goodbye and then head to work with Ash. I hope everything goes smoothly with the move. God knows the trouble the four of them could get into.
CHAPTER 22
Getting back into the grind of things is just what I need to feel normal again. There are no paparazzi mobbing the place like Zander had expected, which allows us to open the bar without an issue.
Talking and catching up with a couple of the regulars has me feeling at home. Most of them congratulate me on the marriage, and I definitely catch most of them looking at my stomach when they don’t think I’m looking, which annoys the hell out of me. I give most of them a mean mug, and they quickly avert their gaze.
I have noticed a steady increase of customers since we opened, way more than we usually have for the lunch rush. I’m assuming they’re not here for the soup of the day, but I won’t tell Ashlyn that. It seems like every male from the college up the street is now sitting in here, well, aside from the skanky hoes dressed in barely anything scattered in between. Are they that horrible that they are still going to try and get the attention of a newly married man? Whores.
Halfway through my shift, Zander sends me a text saying everything is moved and asks if I want him to keep me company for a while. I tell him not to worry about it and fill him in on the extra crowd. I don’t want him needing a bodyguard just to visit me at work. When I drop off a round of tequila shots for a couple of frat guys, I notice a guy approach the bar. He just stands there, staring at me like a stalker. I look right back at him and ask if I can get him a drink. He shakes his head and hands me an envelope. Looking down at the envelope then back up at the guy, I ask, “What the hell is this?”
“Some dude paid me twenty dollars to give this to you. See you later, doll.” He turns around, makes his way to the front door, and leaves.
I open the envelope and pull out what appears to be a handwritten letter with my name written messily on the outside and a picture. I open it up, read it, and barely hold back the vomit that wants to escape my stomach. What the fuck? I fold it back up, place it in the envelope, and then tell Emily I’ll be right back. I head straight for the kitchen to see Ash. The second I get through the door, she knows something is wrong. I sit on a stool and hand her the note.
“This is seriously fucked up!” she exclaims.
The note reads:
Look closely, things aren’t always as they appear to be. Think about that, and meet me tonight at our special place after your shift. -Luke
Along with the note is a picture of Zander and me getting married, but it’s not the picture that’s splashed across the tabloids. It was taken by someone who was there with us because the angle is from the back corner of the room. Goosebumps break out across my body as a shiver rattles up my spine.
I place my head in my hands and faintly hear Ashlyn talking on the phone to who I assume is either Zander or Josh. She runs out to the bar to make sure Emily can handle the rest of my shift by herself, which she agrees to before Ash heads back to me. She squats in front of me and grabs my hands in her own.
“Savvy, Luke seriously has a problem. I called the boys, and they’re on their way. I told them to come in through the back door so nobody will see them.”
I pull her into a hug and then wait for the guys to arrive. Not even five minutes later, there is a loud knock at the back door. I get up to let them in since Ashlyn is trying to finish her shift. The kitchen is too busy for her to leave work before her replacement comes in. Once I get the door open, I’m engulfed in Zander’s arms as he squeezes me tight.
“Where’s the note, Savvy?”
I walk him over to the countertop in the back where I left the envelope and hand it to him. He practically rips the envelope in half as he takes the contents out. The air in the room changes as he reads the letter and looks at the picture.
“Baby, where was your special place?” He speaks through gritted teeth, which shows he barely has a hold on his anger.
“Honestly, I didn’t even know we had a special place. If I had to guess, I bet he’s talking about the park over on Arch Street. We went there a couple of times early on when we were dating, but I wouldn’t call it our special place.” I shrug my shoulders; that’s the best place I can think of. “Wait, why do you want to know?”
“Because when that fucker is waiting for you to show up for whatever the hell he has planned, he’s going to get a surprise visit from me.”
He’s rolling his neck back and forth while clenching his fists, and I know if I let him go he’ll end up in jail. This is not good. If he goes and meets Luke with all of this anger at the surface, he’ll freaking kill him!
“Babe, I don’t think this is a good idea. I won’t go. He’ll figure out I’m not interested if I don’t show up.”
“Non-negotiable, baby.” He walks up to me and pulls me into his arms. “You are my responsibility now, wife. I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe. If intimidating an asshole ex is what I need to do for him to leave you alone, then that’s what I’ll have to do.”
I hide my head against his chest and nod in agreement. Maybe he can intimidate him without an altercation. Luke always cowered when it came to confrontation.
“Okay, just promise me you’ll be safe.”
He bends down and kisses my lips. “Always. You should be getting off in an hour. I’m going to head over there now because I’m sure he’s waiting. I’d rather catch him off guard.”
I’m relieved Zander decides to bring Jayden and Josh with him in case he needs backup if Luke has something planned. He orders Kyle to stay with us as our watchdog until he’s done.
CHAPTER 23
Zander
Who the fuck does this guy think he is? No way in hell am I letting him near my wife. The fact that he thinks he can go behind my back and stalk her…nope, that doesn’t work for me. Just thinking about him lurking in the shadows, possibly even following the girls to work, has me seeing red. I saw the look on Savvy’s face when she opened the door at the bar, and I will do whatever I have to, to keep that fear off her face. After this little “meeting,” I need to call a friend who lives in Vegas and have him pull up the footage from our wedding. That picture was definitely taken by someone in the room when we got married, and I know it wasn’t my brothers. I don’t remember seeing anybody there, but I was shit-faced, so who knows. The fact that this asshole got his hands on that picture doesn’t sit well with me.
After the girls told me earlier about the problems he caused the night of my fight, I called my friend to look into him. I found out he lives in a tiny apartment ten minutes from my house, about fifteen from Savvy’s old house. Luke being so close is not reassuring to me in the least, and if I had my way after tonight, he’d move to fucking Siberia.
An interesting bit of information I received was he got fired from his job about a week ago. I called the trucking company he worked for and said I was an employer looking into his references, and I got all the gritty details. They said he has been unstable lately; missing days without calling in, showing up late, and leaving early. He even got into a few fights with his coworkers. They decided to let him go when they found him in the break room cornering a female employee up against the wall. His former boss said he was overheard yelling at this woman, calling her some other woman’s name along with every other misogynist name in the book. Two guesses as to what name he was calling the woman who, from th
e way he described her, is a dead ringer for Savvy. This guy is definitely unstable, and I need to remember that when I approach him because desperate people are unpredictable.
We pull into the parking lot across the street from the park, and I cut the engine. Luckily my truck is black, perfect for looking without being seen. Jay suggests we hang out for a bit in the truck to figure out what he’s up to before we jump into this situation half-cocked.
I notice after some time passes that there is a guy walking back and forth between a spot on the playground and his car. I can’t see what he’s carrying, but luckily the spot he chose in the park has a light overhead. When he’s finished with carrying all of his shit, we see him start to setup.
“Fuck me. He thinks he can lure my wife with a fucking romantic dinner on a merry-go-round? Who does he think he is, fucking Pee-wee Herman?”
“He clearly didn’t think this through, bro. That shit moves in circles. He’s going to put everything on it, and it will all be on the floor with one turn. Total rookie mistake.” Jay pulls out a bag of chips from under his seat, opens the bag, and proceeds to eat like a fucking camel.
Josh and I stare at Jay in disbelief. “When the hell have you set up a romantic anything for a woman?”
“All the fucking time, bro. Don’t you know that’s how to get the good ones into bed? You do some nice shit and they feel like they found the one. By the end of the night, BOOM! Fuck city, bro!”
I look down at my hands, wondering how we share DNA. If he wasn’t Josh’s twin, I’d seriously question if he was adopted. He was probably dropped several times as a child, that’s the only explanation.
Bound By Cage Box Set (Complete Series Books 1-4) : MMA Romance Page 17