Give You Up (Dumas University Book 1)

by Ashlyn Mathews

  He shoves the butt of the gun harder against my skull. I stumble forward. My dad reaches for me. Grady tsks.

  “Take another step and I’ll blow her brains out.”

  “Put the gun down, kid. We’ll talk. Get your dad as much help as he needs.”

  “He didn’t need help until you fucked him up.”

  Fear courses through my veins. Bile rises and coats my throat.

  “No one has to know what you did to Natalie. We’ll keep it our secret.” My voice trembles. I am such a liar. “Put down the gun. I’ll give you however much money you want.” And will gladly be in debt for life to Dare. “Please, Grady.”

  I lose my shit. Start crying. It cannot end like this. I need the chance to speak with Taron. To get an explanation for why he left his girlfriend back in California.

  Raising my hands slowly, I spin around and face Grady. He is as I remember him. Dark-brown hair. Bright green eyes. Strong jawline. Ruggedly handsome. Except he looks older than he should, the lines on his face tense and sharp. It’s what my dad Gary would call “weathered.”

  This situation can go one of two ways. One, I die, or two, I put up a fight and risk getting shot in the head. I know enough about guns, having learned about them from Dad, to understand the safety is still on. I didn’t hear the audible click of Grady taking it off.

  I open my mouth, ready to beg for my life. The clouds move away from the moon, and that is when I see it. Movement from behind Grady. A tall figure advancing toward us, his steps stealthy and light. Recognizing Taron, I change tactics.

  “Why’d you sleep with Natalie? Or was it me you wanted all along?” I slide my gaze up and down his body. “You look good. I should have stuck around Mossy Rock. Take that kiss we shared further, like us fucking further.”

  I almost wince, hating using that word in front of Taron and my dad.

  “That so?”

  “The kiss was hot. It’s what I think about when I touch myself.” Gag.

  “Can I?” I purr, my eyes on his crotch.

  “Why not? You’re gonna die anyway.” Holding the gun to my forehead with one hand, he unzips his pants with the other. “On your knees, Syn. Show your father you’re as much of a slut as your mom for fucking Taron’s dad. As much of a slut as Taron’s mom for fucking your dad. Shit, Syn, your life is one fucking mess.”

  He laughs. I grit my teeth, my knee going up to nail him in the balls. Taron beats me to it. He knocks Grady out with one punch to the back of the head. Grady crumples to the ground, the gun falling out of his grip.

  Before I can tell Dad to call 911, I am yanked into muscular arms and crushed against a solid body. Taron’s hands run up and down my body.

  “You okay, Pixie Dust? Fuck, when I drove by and saw him in front of your place, I nearly lost it.”

  “Thank God you didn’t.” I edge back, and cradling his jaw in my palm, I lean into him, then remember he left his pregnant girlfriend behind for a chance and closure with me.

  I step out of his hold. Hear sirens coming closer. I sit on the porch and hug myself. Dad sits next to me with his arm across my shoulders. He pulls me into him, and nodding at a pacing Taron with his hands jammed inside the pockets of his jeans and his shoulders pulled to his core, Dad says near my ear, “Don’t give up on him, Syn. He didn’t give up on keeping you safe, baby. He kept me apprised of his suspicions. Ran by me and Beau the list of guys he believed could be after you. That’s why he nearly beat your old boss. Taron thought the guy was out to hurt you based off what Boone did last year.”

  I shake my head, my body wracked with adrenaline from my brush with death as well as my proximity to Taron, the guy I love. The guy I love. I love Taron. But he cheated on his girlfriend.

  “What are you talking about?”

  I’m yanked to my feet. Dad steps between me and Taron.

  “Boy, that is not the way to treat the woman you love.”

  “Wait, what?” I bunch the front of Taron’s shirt in my hand. “You love me? How could you? You left a pregnant woman behind in Cali. I saw her in your bed. She’s your ex-PA.”

  “Sydney?” His brows tug together. “Syn, she’s my half-sister. It’s fucked up, but her stepbrother knocked her up. He’s had a thing for her since her mom married his dad and moved them in together. I hated the dude. Didn’t realize his hate for her is how he shows his love for her. I got my ass handed to me many times by Blaze until I pounded his ass once and for all and got his word not to go anywhere near her again. He broke his promise, and I broke his arms and his legs.”

  I smack his arm, hard. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Would you have told me about your parents and my parents?” He crosses his arms.

  “No. It’s messed up.”

  “Exactly.” He runs his fingers through his hair. “Shit, our lives are a fucking mess.”

  “Isn’t that the truth?” Dad says.

  I kick at the ground. “You can’t blame me for jumping to conclusions when I saw her in your bed.”

  “Just like you can’t blame me for thinking your boss was out to hurt you?”

  I look up. Blink past the tears in my eyes. “I’m sorry.”

  “I am too, Pixie Dust. I love you so much, baby.”

  “I love you, too.”

  He opens his arms. I jump into them, laughing at how similar our lives are. It’s messed up. We have a messed-up, crazy family with interweaving connections. After kissing Taron breathless, I ask Dad the question that will make us an even more messed-up family.

  “Dad, are you planning on asking Taron’s mom to marry you?”

  “Hell yeah.”

  “Thank goodness, because I freaking love her homemade apple pies.”

  “She does make the best, doesn’t she? Come here, future stepson and son-in-law. Come give your stepdaddy a man-hug.”

  “Whatever, old man.” Taron smiles but pulls Dad in for a hug.

  “Um, he won’t just be your stepson, Dad. Taron is the father of your first grandbaby.”

  “What?”

  “Come again, Pixie Dust?”

  Two men stare at me, their mouths agape. I smooth my hand over my belly.

  “I’m pregnant.”

  Taron grabs me around my waist. Spins me around. He’s laughing. My heart soars.

  “We’re having a fucking baby. I’m gonna be a father. Did you hear that, Gary? I’m gonna be a dad.”

  Dad pulls us in for a hug. “Congrats, you two. You’ll make great parents. After we’re done giving our statements, let’s go talk to your mom. She’s waiting for us at the hotel.”

  Epilogue

  Cheers erupt around us. The crowd gets on their feet. I see my husband on the other side of the fencing. He is encouraging our son to keep going. First base. Second. Third. A home run!

  I clap, so proud of my little guy who isn’t so little anymore. Zane is big for his age.

  “Did he have a growth spurt?”

  Sitting, I answer Gunner. “He did. Give him a year or two and he’ll be taller than you.”

  “Pfft, as if.”

  “That’s something you would say to me when you were twelve. I see Beau letting you date hasn’t matured you too much.”

  Gunner rolls his eyes. “I’m fifteen, Syn.”

  “Don’t I know it, kiddo.” I ruffle his hair. “My point is you’re still young and girls shouldn’t be a priority.”

  “I’m not clueless.”

  I don’t expect him to be. Not with the parents he has.

  “I know, sweetie. I’m just saying slow down and enjoy your childhood. Most of all, don’t get a girl pregnant unless you marry her first.”

  “Taron married you when you were knocked up, and that turned out dandy.”

  Dandy? This kid. I smile. “We were lucky that we already love one another. His mom and my mom weren’t so lucky.”

  I run my finger over my wedding ring, remembering what happened the night Taron saved my life. After we gave the police our reports and
they took Grady away to get checked out at the hospital before booking him, we went to see Taron’s mom. She gave us the reason she stayed in a loveless marriage. She did it for Taron and Sydney.

  “A child needs his mother,” she said, “even if the mother doesn’t love the father.”

  “But Sydney isn’t yours,” I sputtered.

  “She isn’t, but she lost her mother and needed one in a bad way. I knew what was going on with her, Blaze, and Taron. My boy was getting beat, and I aimed to do something about it. I went to see Blaze’s dad. They needed money. I gave them money over the years in exchange for keeping Sydney’s mom’s affair with my husband a secret as well as Blaze leaving Sydney alone. Like Taron, I didn’t realize his hate was his love for her.”

  Sydney’s boy, Blaze Junior, is Zane’s cousin as well as his best friend. Our families settled in Dumas with us. I am an elementary school music teacher, and Taron teaches leadership and computer science at DU.

  On spring break, we head down to California, and Taron helps Beau with his camp for kids. The kids love having him there, and I love seeing Gunner and Beau.

  Cindy and Hank went on a few dates, but it didn’t stick. What did stick is Cindy and Beau. Yep, she is the one who got away, who married Beau’s best friend. And she is the one Beau cheated on his girlfriend with at the time.

  Have I mentioned my life and my family are crazy, and I love it? Love them. Love my husband the most.

  For Taron’s birthday, the week after he saved my life, I gave all three rings to him. As soon as I handed them over, he got down on one knee and proposed. That guy. He knows full well I couldn’t refuse him.

  We made up the rules for the rings, and we’re obligated to follow them. I said, “Yes,” and he carried me off to bed and made love to me until my toes curled. Later, snuggled into his warmth and his love, he confessed my “yes” was the best birthday gift ever.

  The baseball game is over, and Taron and Zane walk over. I am amazed I’m married to the hunk with hair the color of my favorite hour, midnight, and eyes as dark as the sky on a moonless night. What amazes me most is what a great father and husband Taron is. He ruffles Zane’s hair, and Zane must’ve said something funny. My dear husband laughs.

  Wanting to share in their happiness, I rise from the bleachers. Taron hurries over and offers me his arm before I can step down onto the next step.

  “Baby, next time, sit on the bottom and next to the railing.”

  “I’m a big girl,” I sass.

  “You’re not big. You’re perfect.”

  Can I swoon at his feet now, please?

  He smooths his hand over my swollen belly. “Twins. Go figure. And hell no are we naming them Red and Rover. Already got one of each.”

  I laugh. On the other side of me, my dad laughs too, this deep rumble from his core, and I love him. Love having him in my life. I can have two dads, a biological one and the one who raised me. There is enough room in my life and my heart for everyone, including my best friends from college.

  “Barbeque at Dare’s?” Taron’s mom, Suzie, asks.

  “That’s the plan.” His hand around mine, Taron guides me down the bleachers.

  Everyone will be at Dare’s for my birthday. Natalie and her family included. They are flying in from California. She and I became close friends. It was bound to happen when she fell in love with Jordan Halpin, Taron’s friend and roommate, and my friend Gwen’s best guy friend. As for Gwen and Dare . . . well, their love story isn’t for me to share. It’s their story to tell.

  “Happy birthday, baby.”

  The love in my husband’s voice brings me out of my reminiscing. He presses a kiss on my mouth, and I am in heaven. Taron pulls me to him with his hands on my hips, and I tremble with need. The kiss is devouring. Hot. And I feel everything. The gentle yet desperate pressure of his fingers on my sensitive flesh. How hungry his mouth is, our tongues tasting and tangling. I slacken against him. Whimper. Thread my fingers in his hair.

  His thick fingers weave in my long strands. Tug my head gently to the side. I open further for him, lost to his heat and his possessive hold on me, one hand on my hip and the other deep in my long thick strands.

  “Jesus, I love your hair.” He breaks off our kiss, and clasping my face in his palms, he brings me close until our foreheads touch. “You are my everything. You know that, right, Pixie Dust? You, Zane, and our families and our friends are my world.”

  “You are mine too.” I wrap my arms around his neck.

  My phone in my back pocket pings. I ignore it. Taron doesn’t.

  “You should get it, sweetheart. It could be Bounce, I mean Beau.”

  Smiling, I check my phone and read the two messages to Taron.

  “Zane and Gunner are with us. See you at Dare’s. We’ll let him know you two will be late. Wink. Wink.”

  I laugh.

  “Your mom is a hoot.”

  “She loves you too, baby. Who’s the other text from?”

  “Beau. He apologizes for missing Zane’s game. Cindy couldn’t make up her mind which puppy to get at the pound, so they got both, two boy dogs.”

  “Nice. Shall we?” He extends his hand to me.

  I set my hand in his. “Where to first?”

  “Wherever you prefer.”

  “Anywhere as long as I’m with you.”

  “Anywhere?” He waggles his brows. I playfully smack his shoulder.

  “As long as we don’t get caught with our pants down”—literally—“I am fair game for anywhere.”

  He effortlessly picks me up in his arms.

  “Remember, you gave me leeway.”

  “Taron?”

  He doesn’t answer, just hurries us to our blacked-out SUV. The crowds are gone. The field emptied out. He sets me on my feet, opens the passenger-side door, and his breath warm on the shell of my ear, he says words that make my heart soar.

  “I love you, Syn. Let’s go soar to the heavens together, baby.”

  In bed. Or wherever he would like to make love to me so long as we’re together. Heaven. How can I refuse?

  Acknowledgments

  I want to take the time to thank key people who helped shape this book into the story it is. First, thank you to my beta readers, Anna and Aleena, and my editor, Courtney. As always, your feedback is invaluable. Second, thank you to my family for being so supportive of my writing career. They put up with late dinners, seeing me zone out as I think through scenes, and they tease me endlessly for taking naps. Hey, those naps help me recharge my brain, lol. Last but not least, thank you to my readers for continuing to read my stories.

  x.o.

  A.M.

  Thank you so much for reading Syn and Taron’s story. Ready for Blaise’s story? Mad Love releases in November. Want more stories in the world of Dumas University? Be sure to check out the books in my Kiss Starter Series: Before You, Kissing Game, and Nora Ever After.

  x.o.

  A.M.

  Also by Ashlyn Mathews

  For more on my paranormal romance books, Click here.

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  For more on my contemporary romance series, Click here.

  For more on my standalone contemporary romance books, Click here.

  For more on my upcoming book releases, Click here.

  For more on my Kiss Starter Series, Click here.

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