All In (The Kings of Kroydon Hills Book 1)

by Bella Matthews

  Once everything is locked, and the alarm is armed, we exit the same door that Annabelle did. It’s gotten darker over the last thirty minutes, and there are no lights back here. “Do you walk to your car alone at night?”

  “No, it’s usually Annabelle and me together. Why?”

  “I just don’t like how dark and closed off it is back here.”

  “I guess I never really noticed it before. I can see if Annabelle can ask the landlord to add a light back here. Would that put your mind at ease, QB?” She kisses me and hops in the SUV when I open the door.

  Throwing her dance bag in the back with my football bag, I tell her, “It’s my job to keep you safe.”

  40

  Brady

  When we enter the Sinclairs’ house, Bash, Murphy, and Cooper are already at the kitchen table. There are books scattered everywhere and a smell wafting through the room that reminds me I haven’t eaten since before practice, and I’m hungry.

  “Hey, guys. What’s in the oven? It smells delicious.” Apparently, neither has Nattie.

  “I don’t know. I think Dad said it’s eggplant parm. The meal service stocked us up earlier.”

  “Is Dad home yet?”

  Just as Nat asks, her dad walks into the room, his eyes zoning right in on the fact that I am carrying his daughter’s dance bag and holding her hand. I’ve been around Joe Sinclair many times since I met Coop and Nat, but never blatantly as his daughter’s boyfriend. We have tried to keep the PDA away from him. I can’t decide if he looks annoyed or curious.

  Nat drops my hand and walks over to her dad to kiss his cheek. “Hi, Daddy. Are you going to eat with us?”

  “No, Nattie. I’ve got more work to do. I’ll be in my office if you kids need anything.” Mr. Sinclair starts to walk away but stops and turns to study Murphy. “Aiden?”

  Murphy looks up nervously. “Yes, sir?”

  “Why the hell do you look like rolled around with a sweaty stripper?” Mr. Sinclair asks Murphy this with absolute sincerity, that is not shared with the group. Everyone else in the room explodes with laughter.

  Natalie manages to keep a straight face. “Well, Dad, Murphy made the mistake of comparing me to Tinker Bell. Then, he got the entire football team to call me Little Sinclair. The. Whole. Team.” She pouts at her dad, who is laughing now too.

  Coop starts to speak, but Nat cuts him off.

  “Nat, you are—”

  “Zip it, Cooper Sinclair. I. Am. Older. Then. You.” It takes every ounce of strength I have not to laugh at my feisty little pixie.

  Nat’s dad looks over Murphy again. “I see—poor kid. I guess nobody told you that Natalie might be tiny, but she is ruthless. Lesson learned, Aiden. Don’t mess with my daughter.”

  Looking over, Joe Sinclair’s eyes meet mine next. “Brady, can I speak with you for a moment?”

  Not waiting for an answer, Mr. Sinclair heads away from us and toward his office.

  Cooper is failing at hiding the grin that has overtaken his face. “Ohhhhh. Somebody pissed off his girlfriend’s dad already.”

  “Shut the fuck up, Cooper.” I flick his ear as I pass by.

  Then hear Murphy mutter, “What the fuck, Nat. Brady’s the one that compared you to Tinker Bell. I just called you Little Sinclair. You are little. I’m going to be shitting glitter for a fucking week.”

  “Sucks to be you, Murphy.” Turning away, Nat looks at me. “I’m going to get changed. Have fun talking to my dad.” I get a quick kiss on the cheek and feel like I’m about to walk the plank.

  Heading down the long, narrow hallway Coach Sinclair just walked, I stop and knock on the closed double doors. The office is large, and nine months after he moved in, it is still littered with boxes in every corner. His desk is a substantial old mahogany piece with a laptop on the little space that papers and binders don’t cover. The desk is facing out, with built-in white shelving behind it. Pictures of Nat and her brothers take up most of that space.

  Pictures of them as babies and little kids at his football games.

  Nat with her hair in little, blonde pigtails, sitting on her father’s shoulders, both wearing matching Sinclair jerseys.

  Pictures of the Sinclair siblings wearing three sets of matching red plaid pajamas on Christmas morning, in front of a Christmas tree that looks ten feet tall.

  Pictures of Natalie dancing on stage. My girl looking gorgeous in a loose, flowing white costume. Her hair up in a tight bun. She is suspended midair in a perfect split.

  Pictures of them at Declan’s high school graduation.

  Across from the desk is a whiteboard with names listed. Some with lines through them, a few circled. Next to that is a flat-screen TV that is tuned in to ESPN but muted for now.

  There are no trophies on these shelves. There are no framed articles about him winning Super Bowls or the Rose Bowl. No pictures of his own time playing in the pros. But his family is everywhere in this room.

  There is a single, framed jersey leaning against the wall, still on the floor. It appears to be his only memorabilia from his days playing on the field, and this man is so unassuming that he hasn’t even bothered to hang it on his wall.

  “Come in, son, and ignore Cooper. He and his brother have always loved to torture Natalie. He did manage to answer my first question, though, but I’d like to hear it from you. Are you dating my daughter, Brady?”

  “Yes, Mr. Sinclair. We are dating.”

  “Brady, I am giving you the benefit of the doubt here, son. You are a successful high school quarterback in your own right, and you’ve already signed your letter of intent for an Division 1 school. I also saw your friendship with Cooper long before Natalie moved here. But I need to say this, and I need you to listen, son. If I find out that you are using my daughter in any way. If you think that you being with my daughter can help your potential football career. If you hurt her, son, I will destroy you, and I have fixers at my disposal who would be happy to help me cover it up.”

  Well, shit. How am I supposed to respond to that? “All due respect, sir, I know that we are young and that this is new, but I plan to be with your daughter for as long as she’ll let me. I’m hoping that is a long time, sir. I respect you, and I respect Cooper, but my relationship with Natalie has nothing to do with what either of you can do for me. You being her father has absolutely nothing to do with why I am with her. You have my word that I will protect her and take care of her. I have no intention of hurting your daughter, sir.”

  “Okay, good answer Brady. One other thing. If you get her pregnant, I will rip your balls off with my bare hands and make you watch while I pop them like balloons. Understand?”

  I think my balls crawled back up into my body at that vivid fucking description, but he got his point across. “Understood, sir.”

  “Good. I’m glad we had this little chat. Now get some dinner and study hard. If you’re ever going to have a chance at keeping my daughter happy, you’d better not be dumb, son. A pretty face only goes so far.”

  He’s smiling at me and laughing at himself. “And, stay the hell away from Murphy. That glitter won’t be gone by the game this weekend, and you don’t want to be on the weekend sports roundup looking like you just hugged a stripper.”

  “Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.” Turning to leave, I take a deep breath and open the door. I’m not expecting Natalie to have her hand raised, ready to knock on the other side.

  “Why do you look pale?”

  “Nattie, honey.” Nat’s dad is calling over me now. “I think Brady just pictured something incredibly painful. Why don’t you get him some water? He’ll be fine.” He sounds like he’s enjoying my utter discomfort thoroughly.

  Meanwhile, I am still imaging my balls popping. I shut the door behind me, and those big beautiful baby blue eyes look up at me.

  “You okay, QB?”

  Looking her over, I draw in a deep breath.

  She has on a pair of navy blue school sweatpants and a tiny white t-shirt. Her hair is down ar
ound her shoulders, and her little diamond studs are twinkling in her ears.

  “I’ve got you, right?”

  She nods that gorgeous head of hers.

  “Then, I’ve got everything I need, Nat.” Brushing her hair away from her face, I kiss the crown of her head. “Let’s get something to eat.”

  For the next two hours, we work on chemistry and talk a little football. Eventually, Coach Sinclair joins us, and we all grill him about the upcoming game.

  He hates that he’s missing our game this weekend, but it’s a Saturday afternoon game for us, and the Kings fly to Seattle Friday. I can’t help but be a little in awe of a father who cares about his kids so much that he tries to catch later flights than his team when he can, just so that he can watch his son play in a game.

  I may not like what Joe Sinclair said to me tonight, but I respect the hell out of it. He’s already been to more of our games this season than my parents, who are as uninvolved as parents can get. I doubt my father even knows that Chloe dates girls more than guys. He certainly has no idea that I am dating Natalie.

  When it’s time to go, Nat makes a big deal of walking me to my car. She goes as far as opening the door for me, so I lean against the seat and pull her to stand in between my legs. It’s one of those crisp, early fall nights. The stars are bright and lighting up the inky night sky. There’s a coolness in the air now. At some point in the night, my girl threw my Kroydon Prep hoodie on over her t-shirt, and my name is stretched across her back. I don’t think seeing my name on her will ever get old.

  Smiling at that thought, I pull her closer. “What’s on your mind, Natalie?”

  Tilting her head back, she bites down on her lower lip before answering. “What did my dad want earlier? I didn’t want to ask in front of the guys.”

  “He wanted to make sure that I was planning on treating you right.” I lean in and kiss her. “He wanted to make sure that I wasn’t going to try to take advantage of you or hurt you.”

  “Oh, yeah?” She looks up at me under those long eyelashes of hers, having no idea the power she has over me. “And what did you tell him?”

  “I promised him that I would look out for you. That I’d take care of you. And that I wouldn’t get you pregnant.” I laugh.

  She doesn’t. “Are you freaking serious right now? What the hell. He already had that discussion with me weeks ago.”

  “It’s his job to protect you, Nattie. You can’t ask him to give that up yet.”

  She grips the front of my t-shirt. “Did he scare you away, QB?”

  Wrapping my arms around her, I pull her closer and rest my chin on her head. “Nope. It takes a lot more than that to scare me away. You’re worth it, Nat.” Leaning down to kiss her again, I try to remind myself that we are in front of her house, and her father is home. “Want to go out Friday night? We could catch a movie?”

  “Nope. Dad’s flying out that afternoon. How about we order pizza and find something to watch on Netflix?”

  “Netflix and Chill? I like the way you think, naughty girl.”

  “You’re an idiot. I meant to watch the movie. We can chill afterward.” Stretching up to her tiptoes, she leans in, kisses me quickly, and turns to walk away. Her hair whips around her face as she turns her head back to me.

  “You better be nice to me, Brady Ryan. You’ve seen what I can do with a glitter bomb.”

  41

  Natalie

  When Brady walked in my door late this Friday afternoon, I wasn’t expecting Cooper to be walking in with him. Obviously, it’s his house too, but our date night has officially turned into the three of us. By seven, we are all laid out on the couch, waiting for the Chinese food to be delivered, fighting over what movie to watch. Just as we decide on the new John Wick, the delivery driver shows up, and we all sit down to eat in the kitchen.

  Coop is hovering over his plastic container of sweet and sour chicken. “Jesus Coop, do you want to slow down and chew?” My disgusting brother opens his mouth that is full of half-chewed chicken so that I can see it. “Gross! Don’t be a pig.”

  “Whatever. I feel like I’ve barely seen you this week, little sister. What’s going on with you?”

  “Nothing new to report here. Actually, I’ve been meaning to ask you something all week. Monday morning in Chemistry, Tiffany mentioned that you two broke up.”

  Brady passes me the egg rolls. “Actually, she said you were taking a break. Very Ross Gellar of you, Coop.”

  Stunned, I look at Brady. “I’m not sure why, but I’m impressed by the Friends reference, QB.” He smirks at me, and I blow him a kiss before turning back to my brother. “Back to you, Coop. Tiff blew me off when I asked what happened. She told me it was your story to tell. Care to elaborate?”

  Cooper swallows his food before going back in for seconds with his chopsticks. “It is what it is. We went to that party at her friend’s house Saturday night, and Tiff’s older brother was there. She got pissed off. We both moved on. It was never anything serious anyway. We can’t all be the over the top, sappy, fucking couple you two are.”

  I throw a wrapped fortune cookie at his head. “Asshole.”

  Brady leans forward. “Man, I haven’t seen Dave in forever. How long is he home for?”

  “He said he has two weeks’ leave.” Coop looks upset.

  Annoyed that I have no idea who Dave is, I interrupt. “Hello… You guys know that I don’t have a clue who you’re talking about, right?”

  Turning to me, Brady explains, “Dave is Tiff’s older brother. He graduated four years ago. He’s always been a cool dude. Captain of the team when he was at Kroydon. Incredibly smart. He skipped college and went into the Navy. He’s a Navy SEAL now.”

  Cooper takes another bite of chicken, then adds, “I ended up talking to him all night, and it pissed Tiff off.”

  My stomach drops. I hate that I know the answer to my question before I ask it. “Why?”

  “She didn’t like it when I told her that I was going into the Navy after high school.”

  Brady puts down his chopsticks, stunned. He looks from Cooper to me like he’s missing something.

  “Haven’t changed your mind about it then? Does Dad know?”

  Cooper moves his rice around with his chopsticks, never looking up. “Dad wants me to go to Annapolis and play there for four years first. That way, I’ll come out as an officer.”

  Already shaking my head no, I fill in the rest of the sentence. “But you don’t want to go to college, right?”

  “No.”

  Cooper has always said he didn’t think college was for him.

  He’s never wanted to play football past college.

  Coop doesn’t want our dad’s life.

  He doesn’t want Declan’s life.

  He’s wanted to be a SEAL for as long as I remember, and my mom and dad have been against it for just as long.

  “Anyway, Tiffany said that she was not wasting time on someone who was going into the military. Said it was too hard already with her brother, and she wouldn’t do it again. Somehow, we decided that maybe we needed a break, and I gotta tell you, I’m okay with that. I wasn’t looking for a serious thing right now anyway. Tiff’s great, but I’m not looking to wife anyone at eighteen.”

  Cooper gets up and throws away his trash. He walks back over to the table and rests his hand on my chair. “And, no, I have no idea what I’m doing next year. I haven’t talked to a recruiter. Not yet, at least, and until I do, I would appreciate it if you don’t mention this to Dad, Mom, or even Declan.”

  “I love you, Cooper. I’ll support whatever you decide you want to do. I can’t act like it doesn’t scare me, though.”

  “Yeah, love you too. Now enough of the serious talk for the night. Can we put the movie on?”

  Brady grabs his carton of food and my hand and pulls me behind Cooper to the family room. The two of them dissect every fight scene and force me to watch a YouTube clip of Keanu Reeves preparing for this role. Not exactly the dat
e that I had hoped for tonight.

  On the bright side, I spend the night snuggled up next to my hot as hell boyfriend, with my feet thrown over his legs. Brady has been rubbing my ugly dancer’s feet for the last half hour, and it’s driving my brother nuts. I’ve come to realize it is always a bonus when I can drive Coop nuts.

  It’s strangely fun, watching his eye start to twitch when Brady and I get too close.

  As the movie ends, Cooper stands and looks at Brady, asking, “You spending the night, man?”

  “I don’t know. We didn’t talk about it yet. My parents are in London for some acquisition until the middle of next week.”

  “He’s spending the night, Cooper.” Throwing a pillow at us, he gives us a keep it down before he goes upstairs. Waiting until I hear Cooper’s bedroom door click shut, I pull on Brady’s t-shirt. “So, do you want to spend the night?”

  “Do I get to sleep in your bed again, Sweetheart? Because I’ve got to tell you, your mattress was the most comfortable mattress I have ever slept on.”

  “Oh, Yeah? Just using me for my mattress QB? What do I get in return?”

  “Orgasms. Lots of orgasms.”

  “Big talk. Let’s see if you can back that up.”

  His hands go to my face the way I have started to crave. Then, leaning me back, he lays me on the couch. Brady’s strong hands travel down my body and grip my hips before slipping inside my yoga pants and dipping inside me. Whispering in my ear, he asks, “Nat, wanna go upstairs before Cooper comes back down for something?”

  “Hmmm. God, I don’t want you to stop, though.”

  Brady brings his fingers up to his mouth and sucks me off of him, and I’m done.

  “I’ll race you upstairs!”

  I take off running with Brady hot on my heels. Running into my room, I jump on the bed, laughing.

  Like an animal stalking his prey, he moves behind me, quietly pulls the door closed, and puts his fingers up to his lips, telling me to be quiet.

  Nodding my head, I strip off my slouchy crop top and am left in a hot pink bralette.