by S. M. Soto
I hop down from my truck, slamming the door behind me, just as my buddy Bishop meets up with me as we near the porch landing.
“Why didn’t you tell me the job was for Gavin Drake?”
He frowns, shooting me a look that clearly says you know why. When I raise an expectant brow, he blows out an agitated sigh.
“I didn’t really think it mattered. Gavin asked me not to say anything because he knows how you are, so I respected the customer’s wishes. This way you could just come in, no questions asked, and get the job done.”
I avert my gaze, focusing on the two-story structure, without even bothering to deny it. He’s right. They all know exactly how I am. There’s no way I would’ve made Gavin pay for any of our services. I’ve never cared who the jobs belonged to when I took them before. It’s always more money for the business, or helping someone in town and doing something I love. I see his point.
Shaking it off, I knock on the front door, and when Gavin answers, he’s wearing a smug look on his face. He’s obviously proud of himself for keeping this a secret. Noted.
I let Gavin show me around his place, though I’m familiar with most of the layout already. I listen to him as he explains what he wants while I go over the blueprints Griffin drew up for him. He wants to make the back section of the house bigger, and now, I understand why. It’s for Selene and her daughter. It seems they’ll be staying in town much longer than I originally thought. I make note of it, already tweaking possible ideas in my head. A lot of unnecessary walls take up extra space toward the back of the property, so if we knock those down, we can create extra space. With three bedrooms and two bathrooms, Gavin’s place isn’t the worst I’ve seen in terms of an expansion.
We head out to the backyard and go over a few more basic things with the rest of the guys before Gavin leaves us, letting us get to work. He walks back inside with a bit of a limp in his step. I can’t help but frown after him.
“Let’s get to work, man,” Landon says, purposely slapping me on the back.
Bishop and I take measurements, and I start making a rough draft on the exterior blueprints of how far things would need to come out. If we knock down the back wall to extend, we’ll need to get a permit if we extend too far. I’m deep in focus, running numbers through my head, when I suddenly hear the pitter-patter of small feet. With my pencil hovering over the prints, I glance up, and despite myself, I grin when I catch sight of the bleary-eyed little girl with the sleep-mussed hair.
She pushes through the screen door and pauses on the deck, taking in all the men working in the backyard. Gavin’s also looking to landscape the backyard, no doubt for his granddaughter. Her face scrunches in dismay, and she furrows her brows when she looks at me, more than likely recognizing me from the grocery store. Padding down the steps, she pauses in front of Bishop and me. He watches her with a confused expression on his face. I don’t blame him. The kid is an absolute trip.
“Hi.”
“Hey, kiddo.”
“My name’s Luna.”
I fight my grin. “I know. I met you yesterday, remember?”
She pouts, clearly not liking that I’ve corrected her. I cough back a laugh, correcting myself for her sake. “Hey, Luna.”
She grins victoriously at how quickly I gave in. “Whatcha doing?”
I glance around pointedly. “Trying to work on the house for your grandpa.”
“Why?”
“Because he wants more space for you and your mom?” I say it as more of a question than anything else. I shoot a wary glance at Bishop and Landon, who look as much out of their element as I do.
I obviously don’t know much about kids. None of my buddies have them, and I only have one niece who’s already closing in on nine years old.
“Can I have a playground?” She looks directly at Bishop when she asks this.
“Uh…” He shoots a chary glance at me, begging for my help.
“And what about a swimming pool? It can be my early birthday present.” This time, she asks Griffin, and he looks just as uncomfortable as Bishop. It’s comical.
“It snows here, Luna,” I tell her, holding back my laughter. The look she shoots me is so dry, I feel like my skin is being chaffed with sandpaper.
“Annnd?” She raises her brow sassily, and all I can do is shake my head because Christ in heaven, this little girl is something else.
“Luna!”
We all turn at the sharp sound of Selene’s voice. Her face, clean of any makeup, is just as beautiful as it was last night. Though now that I’m paying attention, she looks stricken. When I glance down, I can understand why. Four people who are practically strangers standing right next to her daughter outside would likely freak anyone out. If I were her father, I’d be a little concerned too.
Selene hurries down the back deck steps toward us. She must’ve just woken up because she’s dressed in her nightgown with a flimsy robe tossed over it, and a pair of flip-flops are the only things adorning her feet. She skids to a halt in front of me and pulls Luna into her side. It doesn’t escape my notice how she angles herself in front of her daughter as though she’s shielding her from us.
So she’s a momma bear. I like that.
Selene nervously licks her lips, darting her gaze around me and the guys, and subconsciously, she pats her hair, probably just now realizing it looks a little wild and untamed. It doesn’t deter from her beauty, though. If anything, she looks hot in an ornery way.
“Your dad has us back here taking measurements for the expansion, sorry.”
Her gaze darts to mine, and we stand there, staring at each other for a few suspended seconds. I feel Bishop, Landon, and Griffin looking back and forth between the two of us. Their gazes are drilling holes into the side of my head, and their unspoken questions swirl in the suddenly tense air between us.
Bishop clears his throat, and it seems to snap us both out of our daze.
“No. I’m sorry,” Selene says quickly, shaking her head. “Don’t apologize. I just…I just freaked out.” She looks down at Luna, who’s completely oblivious. Luna’s too busy studying the rest of the guys, probably trying to come up with a plan in her head to get one of them to agree to build her a playground or a pool.
The kid’s a fucking shark, I tell you.
“I get it. I was just going to walk her back inside with Gavin.”
“No, you weren’t,” Luna singsongs, making us both laugh. Selene’s lips twist ruefully, and I soak in everything about her. I follow the sudden trajectory of her hand. Delicately, she reaches around her neck for something, but it’s bare.
I’m struck by the sudden realization that she’s not wearing the necklace she constantly wore when she was a kid. That was the most vivid memories of our past. That damn moon necklace and that damn thick book she constantly carried around. Her hand flutters away, and she shifts on her feet, clearing her throat almost nervously.
“Well, we should probably head inside and leave you guys to it.” She quickly glances at the rest of the guys, before looking back at me, her cheeks turning a bright shade of red. It’s a struggle to hold back my grin at how cute she is.
“Mom,” Luna groans at the realization that she won’t be able to stay out here, and Selene rolls her eyes, sighing under her breath. I wonder how many times a day she does that? It wouldn’t matter. I’d probably never tire of seeing it.
They leave as quickly as they came, and the guys and I stand around for a beat, trying to process how odd of a start our morning is off to.
“She’s hot. That is a MILF I wouldn’t mind becoming a stepfather for. I would let that woman ride my cock until—”
I can’t help but glower at Griffin’s comment. I shoot daggers at the side of his head, his gaze still intently focused on the door Selene and Luna disappeared through. In a knee-jerk reaction, I smack him upside the head. Instead of being angry with me, he laughs.
The fucking bastard.
Internally, I berate myself for my reaction to what
Griffin said. I chalk it up to my friendship with Gavin. I respect the man too much. There’s no way I’d ever allow anyone to disrespect his daughter. It has nothing at all to do with the fact she’s gorgeous as all hell, and I don’t want any of my men near her. Not even my best friends.
“Little girl looks familiar, no? I can’t for the life of me figure out what it is.”
I perk up at Bishop’s comment. His gaze is also solely fixed on the back door she disappeared through, but at least he’s wearing a confused expression instead of one filled with lust.
I nod absentmindedly. “I know. The first time I saw her, I swear I thought my sister had a kid she kept hidden from us.”
“Weird,” Bishop mumbles as he walks off.
Weird, indeed.
After measurements are confirmed, we break ground on the project. A few of the guys get to work on knocking down that back wall, and Griffin and Bishop are off to the side, cutting and measuring boards for the foundation we’ll need for the expansion. I’ve been running back and forth from the truck, carrying supplies and doing my damnedest not to think about Gavin or his daughter.
This is such an odd situation. I’ve grown close to Gavin over the years. The man is like family to me, so why am I suddenly thinking about his daughter, his pride and fucking joy, sexually? It’s wrong on so many levels. A part of me feels as though I’m disrespecting him with the thoughts alone.
I glance toward the back window again, and I don’t even bother hiding my smirk when I spot the curtains bunched up in the corner from where Luna keeps peeking through. She’s been doing it on and off, trying to get a better look at what we’re doing. She tried to sneak out a few times, but Gavin, his wife, and Selene seemed to catch on to her sneaky ways. Plus, they understand how dangerous it is to have a kid back here. It’s best she stays put and watches from there.
My smile slowly drops when I spot who’s behind Luna, and instead, a foreign sensation builds in my chest. Selene stands there, behind her daughter, observing the guys working on the landscape. When her gaze finally lands on me, her eyes widen, and I swear, even from here, I can see the crimson staining her creamy cheeks. I wave at her because I’m suddenly back in high school, and it seems I have a fucking crush. And said crush seems to be just as taken aback. Selene is quick to snap the curtains shut, shielding me from view, and I can’t help but chuckle, shaking my head as I get back to work.
After another hour and a half, we break for lunch, most of the guys leaving to eat, while the rest of us hang back. Griffin left to get us food from Rita’s Diner. It’s a staple here in Dunsmuir. No one does burgers like Rita.
We pause at the sound of soft, lilting laughter, and we all turn toward the source. Holding a tray filled with glasses of water is Cece, Gavin’s wife.
“Hope you guys are thirsty. I brought my little helper with me.”
And there, a few paces behind her, is Luna, her footsteps slow and sure. Her pink little tongue is peeking out between her lips in concentration as she tries not to drop the glasses of water. For whatever reason, the kid makes me smile.
“Is the heat getting to you boys yet?” Cece asks, when she finally reaches us, the remaining guys taking the offered glasses. Cece is a beautiful woman for someone in her late fifties. If it wasn’t for the deep-set laugh lines and crow’s feet around her eyes, you’d never guess her age. It seems the time away from her husband wears well on her. It’s still hard to believe their relationship wasn’t what the town always thought it was.
“Nah, not yet. We’re managing, Mrs. Drake.” She seems to come up short on the use of the name but recovers quickly.
“This weather make you miss the Pasadena weather?” Griffin asks. She arches a single brow at the question.
“Boy, you haven’t felt heat till you’ve lived in Pasadena during the summer.”
A slight tugging on my jeans has me glancing down to the little girl at my side. Luna stares up at me with those big doe eyes, an extra glass of water still in her hands.
“Here,” she says, thrusting it at me, spilling some over the lip as she does so. I don’t mind, though. I take the water with a gracious smile, and just to really drive the thirsty act home, I finish the whole glass for her, and her entire face lights up.
“Nana, look! He drank it all!”
Cece smiles down at her indulgently and shakes her head as she looks back and forth between us. “That one is just like her mother. Can’t seem to steer clear of you. This little one has been yapping inside about you all day.”
I ruffle Luna’s hair, and she laughs like it’s the funniest thing in the world. It takes me a few seconds to process her words, and when I do, my brows pull down, and I turn back toward Cece.
“What do you mean?”
“I just mean like mother like daughter. Selene always had the biggest crush on you, and now it seems our little Luna has grown attached to you, too.”
The expression I’m wearing on my face must be one of confusion because Bishop and Landon laugh behind me. Bishop even goes as far as slapping me on the back as though he finds the situation hilarious.
“Oh, come on. You had to have heard talk around town over the years. And even if you didn’t, it’s always been kind of obvious. Well, at least to her father and me it was.”
If possible, the frown on my face deepens. “What exactly?”
“The day you moved into town, Selene damn near fell in love with you.”
If I had water in my mouth, I would’ve done a spit-take. What the hell is she talking about?
Cece frowns. “You mean you never noticed? Hell, I think my little Selene thought you two would get married one day. She had the biggest crush on you. Since that first night you rolled into town, she’d been doodling your last name in notebooks till she turned eighteen. Funny how life works out, isn’t it?”
With a parting smile, she calls after Luna, who goes running after her grandma, and I watch her leave, trying to process her words.
Selene used to have a crush on me.
Well, damn. Ain’t that something?
How did I never see it before? And why didn’t I ever notice?
“Mommy!” Luna yells as she runs inside the house. She went on a water run for the guys with my mom, and obviously, it didn’t help her burn off any of this extra energy she seems to have today, of all days.
I should probably take her to the park, but I still have so many boxes to unpack, and with the guys working on the back, there’s no way I can take her back there to play.
And honestly, with how close we are to Endymion, it’s making me anxious. I’m pushing my luck here, I know this, but I don’t know what else to do. He just keeps popping up when I least expect him to. I mean, honest to God, how was I supposed to know he was going to have his own construction business? How was I supposed to know he and my father have built some weird sort of bond while I’ve been away? How was I supposed to know he decided to stay in Dunsmuir for good?
It’s all too much to process. I’m starting to get a headache from all of it.
And that is just the start of the issues suddenly presenting themselves left and right. Another is my crush I thought I buried six years ago when I had my heart broken. It seems I was wrong, because the way my heart and body react when I’m near Endymion now? That’s not the way people act when they’re around someone they don’t care about. My stomach dips and flips when he’s near, and I can still feel his hands on me, his lips on my bare skin, and his firm body hovering over mine as though I’m being transported back in time. My eyes slam shut as the memories flood my brain. It’s been so long, you’d think they’d be grainy at best, but the feel of his lips against my skin is as clear as if it were happening this instant.
Those are definitely not the thoughts of someone who has moved on.
It doesn’t help that he looks better now than he did when we were younger, if that is even possible. Everything about him is different, yet it’s still the same. Though matured, his features are the same
as they were six years ago, just somehow better now, a little more rugged. He seems taller, broader, and I am sure he has muscles in places one shouldn’t even need muscles. His arms are thick and muscular, the veins protruding from his tan skin. I’m sure he probably stays in shape from his job, and even though I try to stop the train of thought, I can’t help but imagine him at work, his hot, sweaty body, the muscles rippling—
Stop it! I chide myself internally. Now is not the time to be fantasizing about this man.
His voice is deeper and raspier than I remember it being all those years ago, too. If I thought he had a sexy voice then? He has the kind of voice now that probably has women dropping their panties with one word.
And I hate him for it.
Why couldn’t he have gotten fat and ugly in the past six years?
Does he really have to be so handsome?
It all feels so unfair.
I worked so hard to forget about him—to bury my feelings, my torment, and all my hurt—to care for our daughter and give her a good life, but it feels as though the universe is somewhere looking down at my predicament and laughing at me by bringing us together like this again.
Because I’m sure if he ever finds out the truth, I’ll see a side of Endymion I never thought possible.
Over the years, I considered reaching out to him and explaining, but each time, I’d talk myself out of it. I mean, what was I really going to say to him?
Hey, we had sex one night when you were blackout drunk, and you took my virginity and got me pregnant. Oh, and meet your daughter, Luna.
Throwing that on him like that never felt right to me. Though it’s not like hiding it from him has made it any better. A part of me worries about what he’ll think of me. Will he think I’m lying about him being drunk? What if he doesn’t believe me? He doesn’t even know who I am, so what if he misinterprets my crush on him as something obsessive?