The Devil's Match
Page 22
Melissa smiles weakly. “Thanks. But I don’t know.”
Miles brings the rim of his glass to his lips. “Willow, you still at the Mac Mansion?”—they all call it that, apparently, for McKenna’s Mansion.
Willow’s eyes snap to Miles. “You already know I am…”
Miles’ eyes stay on hers. Hers laser into his until Blake clears his throat. Well, that’s interesting.
“I sense something—” Miles and Willow both kick me under the table. “Ouch!” Both their eyes are wide on me, and my annoyed face turns smug.
“Oh, quit playing like I don’t know,” Blake adds, his southern twang coming in. “Y’all are just a pair of idiots if you think I didn’t know.”
All of us go quiet, then Blake leans forward and casts a cheeky glance at Willow. “You taste delicious, my dear.” Then he winks at her and leans back.
“Jesus fucking Christ,” Raze whispers, dropping his head into the palm of his hands.
I blurt out laughing, but not until I made sure Willow wasn’t uncomfortable from Blake’s crassness.
Blake further shrugs, just as I see Frost and Chase walk back onto the porch. “What, it’s true. I know Miles isn’t gay, and he isn’t bi. I’ve just kept his dick happy.”
“Blake…” Miles warns. “Shut up, and you know that isn’t true.”
Willow shuffles and then stands. “X? How’s that BBQ going?” She walks toward X with a smile and I watch as Miles’ eyes fly up to her, watching her carefully with X. Well, well, well.
Miles’ eyes drop to me, only to find my face red from all the grinning. “You,” he points to me, “shut the fuck up when you’re talking to me.”
“What’d I miss?” Frost asks, kissing me on my head and sitting beside me. Chase goes back to the end of the table, a shit-eating smile on his face.
“Oh you know, just our crazy fucked up family,” I whisper into Frost’s thick neck and kiss him softly.
FROST
Thirty minutes earlier
Chase stops and then slides the ranch slider closed, shutting out all the chit chat from the porch. “I get it, man, I get why you’d hate me.”
“You do?” I ask, my eyebrows shooting up.
“Yeah, of course.” He shoves his hands into his pockets. “I understand the situation and how that might feel for you. But, if I could have one request, it would be to just not do this here, not now, and let me have one more day with Pax.” His eyes drop before coming back to me. I see his eyes glass over. “I love that girl, bro. So much, and I’d never try to take your place in her life, that’s a given, but never have I ever tried to.” A tear slips down his cheek and I can’t play this asshole anymore.
“Chase?” I grind out, turn and pull open the fridge, taking out a couple of beers. “Sit down, brother, I’m not going to hurt you, nor am I going to take Pax away from you.”
His eyes shoot up to mine, his shock evident. “What?” he whispers, looking at me like he’s waiting for me to say, ‘Just kidding, motherfucker’ and then launch my blade into his eye sockets. I might have in the past. Yeah, I definitely would have done that to him, but respect happened.
I hand him his beer, and he pops the cap off, taking a seat on one of the bar stools. I take a sip of mine and lean against the counter. “The thing is, is yeah, at first, I fucking hated you. You knew Ella before I did, you had touched her before I did—hell, you are the only man who has touched her that isn’t me, and then when I saw you both together during that shitshow at the Beehive? Yeah, I wasn’t a happy man. Actually, I remember specifically telling myself that I wanted your head, and I always get what I want…” I pause, taking a pull of my beer. I clench my jaw a couple of times, look at him, and then smile. One of my smiles I save for Pax and my woman. “But then I realized you took care of my girls. You were there when I wasn’t—even though I didn’t know about Pax, you stepped up to her needs, and Ella’s needs, when she needed you the most. For that, brother, I owe you, so no, I don’t want to kill you, and no, I don’t want to take Pax away from you. Quite the contrary. I want you to be here for everything. I want you to be present to every birthday she has—if possible—I want you to be here when she graduates, and God help, when she even thinks about dating, I want you to be behind me and the brothers when it comes to knocking the little fucker out….” I pause and then peer up at him. He’s smiling a bright smile, full teeth on display and everything. “So, what do you think?” I ask, one eyebrow cocked.
He stands, walks toward me and pulls me into a hug. “I think I’m moving home.”
I step back, my hands on his shoulders. “You sure?”
He searches my eyes. “Yeah, man. I need to be here for all that, now that I have your blessing, and also…” His head tilts toward the glass sliding door that leads out onto the porch where I can hear a round of laughter. “I don’t fucking trust Taylor. She has something to do with Hella leaving Melissa, and I don’t know why she wants Miles, but I’m not buying it.”
His words sink in, and I nod in understanding. “Brother, we are on the same page.” We both walk out, back onto the porch and I pull Ella into me.
“You okay, baby?” She searches my eyes. “Are you and Chase?”
“We’re good, baby, promise.” Then I get up and meet X at the BBQ. “Brother, you need any fucking help or what?”
He glances at Willow and then grins at me. “I’m good, my man.”
Shaking my head, I go back to the table and sit next to Ella. I wrap my arm around her shoulders and pull her into me as the next generation is playing, laughing on the playground behind us, Millie and Raze are arguing because Millie thinks real chicken is in chicken nuggets, Miles is glaring at Willow who is leaning into X and Blake has his hand on Miles’ thigh under the table. Racer is on his phone, leaning against the railing—texting one of his hoes no doubt, Beast is gazing out at the playground with Meadow standing in front of him wrapped in his arms, and Melissa, well, Melissa is drinking wine like it’s water beside me. Not all of my brothers are here tonight because not all of them could make it and we always need someone at the clubhouse, but these people are who my family are. Hell, Willow included, even if she has just started a war with Miles. My thoughts briefly drift back to that day I was sitting in that therapist office with my ratty ass birth mom. “—I’m sorry. There’s nothing else we can do. Maybe in time, he will find a stabilizer, but that’s not guaranteed.” I found my stabilizer, and it wasn’t the girl wrapped up in my arms. I loved Ella, yeah, but it wasn’t the kind of love I needed to feel. My eyes shoot out to the playground where Pax plays, her long hair bouncing around her shoulders, her little smile eating up the entire vicinity. Yeah, I found my stabilizer all right, and she has my heart by a fluffy Dora the Explorer leash.
The End
Lucky Hundred will be coming soon!
Miles, Blake, & Willow’s book…
Also by Amo Jones
The Elite Kings Series:
The Silver Swan
The Broken Puppet
Tacit a Mortuis (coming May 15th)
The Devil’s Match:
One Hundred & Thirty-Six Scars
Hellraiser
Razing Grace: Part 1
Razing Grace: Part 2
The Devil’s Match
Lucky Hundred (Coming soon)
Crowned
Crowned by Hate
Crowned by Fate (coming soon)
Westbeach
Losing Traction
F*CKER
Stand alone’s
(Coming 2018)
DYAVOL
(Paranormal trilogy coming 2018)
About the Author
Amo Jones is a small country girl totally winging this author thing (she's probably doing it all wrong). She likes cake, loves wine, and her religion is magic. She's a profound work-a-holic, but when she's not writing, you can find her chilling with her kids & partner at the nearest beach, with a cocktail in her hand.
New Zealand is not a sta
te of Australia and rugby is the best sport ever played.
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