A Steel Town (A Gateway to Love #3)

by Chloe Barlow

  Valerie began shepherding the guests out of the room. Once they were gone, Tea stilled Griffen with her hand and focused her gaze on Baxter, silencing his obnoxiousness for a moment. Griffen looked like he would explode with all his pent-up fury, but he let Tea have her chance to deal with the situation.

  Baxter opened his mouth, most likely to release another snide comment, but Tea put her finger in his face and burst out with, “No! It’s my turn to talk, Bax. One night! One night! All I asked for was one goddamn night where Griffen and I could celebrate our life together and our future with the people we love. I was hoping you could be grown-up enough by now to be one of those people.”

  “Tea, you’re always going to be my brother’s wife. No matter what you run off and do with Nicky Griffen Tate.”

  “Shut up!” she shouted, and it seemed so unlike her that Jenna and Aubrey audibly gasped. “I wasted away for almost six years, alone and heartbroken after you brother died, Baxter. I refuse…” Her voice cracked, and Jenna put a hand on her shoulder to calm her for a moment. The touch apparently gave her enough strength to go on, and she finally added, “I refuse to allow you to come into my house and act like I am doing something wrong. Tell me, Baxter, when would the length of my pain have been enough for you? Ten years? Twenty? Did I need to die alone to prove my loyalty to your brother? Because I never saw you sacrifice anything — not one freaking thing — you wanted in his memory. No. I guess you think that’s only my job for eternity.”

  A lone tear slid down Tea’s cheek and Griffen turned so red Claudia worried he might actually kill Baxter.

  “That’s it! You made my fiancée cry, Bax. Now I’m going to make you cry. I don’t care if you’re like a brother to me. Sometimes you need to kick your brother’s ass. And if Jack were here, I feel pretty sure he’d help me.”

  “Sounds like a great idea,” Trey added, pushing his sleeves up to reveal his dark and menacing tattoos. He was also clearly ready to do serious damage. “Jack may not be here, but I can sure as hell help teach this kid a lesson for you, Griff.”

  “Bring it, Griffen. I’ve been looking forward to this for a while,” Baxter responded, his voice still slurring.

  Wyatt stepped between them, pressing one hand on Baxter and the other hand against Trey’s chest. The force of it elicited an exclamation from Jenna, “Careful with your shoulder, Wyatt! You don’t need to keep grabbing everybody.”

  “It’s okay, Doc,” he answered, smirking slightly at Jenna. “Just trying to do my part here.”

  Trey threw Wyatt a mean look, and knocked his hand away, “Back off, McCoy. I fully intend on helping my boy here.”

  Panic set into Claudia’s bones, and she grabbed Trey’s other arm, stopping him in his tracks, “You can help Griffen by not getting arrested,” Claudia murmured. Trey met her eyes and she could feel his arm relax under her palm. He must have seen the worry on her face because his eyes softened and he stepped back slightly from the fray, careful not to break her hold on him. Time slowed down around them — the battle raging only inches away, faded to a speck, leaving only the sensation of Trey’s gentle gaze on her face.

  “That’s it! Cut it out, the lot of you.” An older blonde woman ran up, silencing the bunch of angry men immediately. Claudia released Trey, the madness of the moment crashing back down around her, as the woman continued. “Baxter, you may look like a grown man but I am still your mother, and I demand you stop this nonsense immediately. I have let you get away with this long enough.”

  “Mom!”

  “No. I am telling you right now — you are going to apologize to Griffen and your sister-in-law, then you’re going to behave yourself. You do that or you leave. There is no third option,” Carol threatened softly.

  “I can’t believe you’re just accepting all of this.”

  “We are all trying to move on. I don’t understand why you have to be this way.”

  “Move on? It’s like you’re killing my brother all over again.”

  “Enough. He may have been your brother, but he was my son, and you don’t get to tell me, or anyone else, how to grieve his loss. Come outside with me so you can cool off.” Carol grabbed Baxter’s shirt, leading him out of the room.

  Claudia was still transfixed by the sight of Trey. He was still close enough to touch. His gaze found hers again, a flash of hot desire crossed his face — a sight she’d so desperately wanted to see from him again. She couldn’t hear any of the clamoring discussion around her over the beating of her heart. Its pace became more frantic when the smallest smile creased Trey’s handsome face.

  “Come on, let’s get in the kitchen, ladies. Give Tea a chance to collect herself,” Jenna interrupted, grabbing Claudia’s arm and giving Trey the oddest look, almost like a warning.

  “What the fuck is he even doing here?” Aubrey demanded. Everyone was still serving themselves and eating in a separate room, giving the women some privacy.

  “Carol invited him,” Tea answered, taking a seat at her kitchen table.

  “She did what?” Jenna shouted.

  “Shh,” Tea responded. “Carol was so upset and embarrassed about Baxter’s behavior at her Christmas party, you know that. She felt bad for not telling Baxter about us. She’s been trying to get him to come around ever since.”

  “Classic Carol. Even when she helps, it still causes stress.”

  “You saw her dealing with him. She’s trying.”

  “Well, maybe if she’d tried before, instead of indulging him with all his tantrums, then we wouldn’t be in this mess,” Aubrey responded, irritation dripping from her words.

  The kitchen door swung open, as Griffen’s mom, Valerie made her way in, quickly giving Tea a warm hug.

  “Oh, Tea, honey. I’m so sorry you had to deal with that.”

  “It’s okay. And thanks for being so great. Are the guests okay?”

  “They’re fine, maybe a little worried about you and Griffen, but the good food is a distraction. I’m still concerned about you, though.”

  “I’m okay, just a little jittery, I guess. I’ve never really yelled at anyone like that before.”

  “I couldn’t hear what you said, but I know it was certainly warranted.”

  “It was, Val,” Jenna assured her as she handed Tea something brown and stiff to drink. “Damn, Tea, that was some serious Southern girl attitude you brought there. I’m so proud of you,” she continued.

  “Baxter may want to mess with our night, but I refuse to give him the satisfaction of succeeding.”

  “Why would he do something like that?” Claudia asked, honestly confused by such a selfish display.

  “He’s always been such a moody thing,” Aubrey answered. “Losing his brother made it so much worse.”

  “Well, he won’t be able to get away with it anymore, I hope,” Jenna added. “Baxter broke Griffen’s number one rule — don’t ever make Tea cry.”

  Tea chuckled lightly, before standing up and attempting to open a series of champagne bottles, but she was clearly still distraught and had little success.

  “Hey, is it okay if I open the champagne bottles? I need something to keep me occupied,” Claudia said, eager to help in some way.

  “Yes, Claude. That would be awesome,” Tea answered, easing back from the bottles. “You guys don’t need to worry about me.”

  “But it’s what we do,” Aubrey responded, hip-checking Tea in the arm.

  “I know, and thank you a million times over for it. But, I’m so happy tonight. I’m not letting Bax bring me down. It’s just… He looks so much like Jack. When he comes here pissed like that, it sucks. Carol said he’s been unhappy, trying to take over decision-making for Viola, but she’s not ready to let go of her family’s empire.”

  “He doesn’t seem mature enough,” Valerie interjected.

  “No, and he’s only just started business school… That doesn’t excuse anything though.”

  “It doesn’t. Forget about him. I’ll make sure Bax is occupied,” Jen
na assured her.

  “No, I can do it,” Aubrey offered.

  “Are you sure? When you saw him last year at Carol’s Christmas party you almost punched him.”

  “Almost, being the key word there. I didn’t actually kick his ass. I can handle this. You and Tea both have your guys, I should probably help you actually get to spend time with them.”

  Claudia saw what seemed like the slightest hint of sadness streak across Aubrey’s face, but it was gone so quickly, she couldn’t be sure if it was all in her imagination.

  “Thanks, Brey,” Tea answered.

  “No problem,” she said with an abundance of cheer, before rushing out of the kitchen.

  “At least no one can claim our parties are boring,” Tea stated. “Thank you for taking care of the champagne, Claude. By the way, how is work going? Does it still bite?”

  Claudia’s hand slipped when pulling out a cork in response to Tea’s choice of words, which had evoked the memory of Trey nipping at her chin a week before. Before she could collect herself, a torrent of bubbly liquid spilled over her hands.

  Jenna grabbed a dishtowel and started to clean it up. “If we wanted a spaz to spill it everywhere, we would’ve let Tea keep opening the bottles,” she joked.

  “Sorry, I think I got a little distracted,” Claudia muttered.

  “I can help you, Claude,” Jenna offered.

  “Don’t worry about it. This will give me a chance to get settled. I always feel kind of awkward when I meet so many new people at once.”

  “If you’re sure… When you’re done with that, can you find Wyatt and me? Hopefully you don’t feel too overwhelmed already, because we have even more people for you to meet, sorry,” Jenna told her quickly, before heading out with Tea.

  Claudia simply nodded, licking some of the champagne off her hand. Jenna and Wyatt may have another sea of faces to thrust at her, but all Claudia really wanted was to find Trey and pick up where their last enticing look had left off.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  “Hey, Wy. Jenna said you guys wanted me to see me…” Claudia explained to her brother with a smile. Her feelings may have been mixed about him and all his protective hovering, but she did love him.

  “There you are. We sure did. Come over here,” Wyatt responded, beaming with a joy, which immediately put Claudia on alert. Even so, she allowed herself to be dragged away, all the while scanning the room for Trey, yet to no avail.

  Wyatt pulled her over to a group of people, including his agent, Gabe, Jenna, and a very good-looking blonde guy.

  “Come here. You remember Gabe…”

  Claudia nodded shyly, feeling her usual discomfort becoming amplified by her brother's boisterousness.

  “Claude, hi again,” Jenna greeted her cheerfully. “This is Jason, we were friends in high school when he played on my dad’s team.”

  “Wow, what a coincidence,” Claudia responded, skepticism dripping into each word, yet Jenna barreled on shamelessly.

  “You may have met Jason before when he played with Wyatt at Texas.”

  “Oh! I remember you now,” she answered, recognition coming in a flash and overriding her prior skittishness. “Go Longhorns!”

  “Hell yeah. I gotta say, you’re amazing. That was ten years ago, you must have been barely a teenager back then,” Jason responded, an adorable grin spreading across his handsome face.

  “Yes, pretty much, but I still could tell a great wide receiver when I saw one. Do you play football now?” Jason, and his connection to her beloved home state, managed to immediately put Claudia at ease, in spite of herself.

  “Jason plays in the Canadian Football League for the Toronto Red Wings. He came all the way down here to come to this party. Gabe’s his new agent, so hopefully we can get him on a team here in the States, soon,” Wyatt said, inserting himself back into the conversation quickly. “Jason is also single.”

  “Wow, great segue, Wy,” Claudia mused sarcastically.

  “All right, Wyatt, let’s try not to be so obvious, you’ve made them both feel embarrassed,” Jenna stated, catching the completely mortified expression on Claudia’s face. “But he is cute, right,” Jenna whispered, pinching Claudia’s upper arm.

  “Jenna!” Claudia sputtered out, her cheeks flushing bright red.

  “Don’t worry. You can tell her I’m ugly, I won’t mind,” Jason declared to Jenna, and Claudia almost spit from laughing.

  “How diplomatic of you. It’s very nice to see you again, Jason, sorry if I seem unwelcoming,” Claudia said.

  “No problem at all. Wyatt was never the most subtle person.”

  “You can say that again,” Jenna agreed.

  “Jenna, you’re no better,” Claudia retorted.

  “She’s got you there, J,” Jason answered laughing.

  “Oh, screw the both of you. I have other friends… Look, there’s, Laney. Get over here, girl.”

  “Hi, Jenna.”

  “Laney. I’m so glad you made it. I want you to meet some people. I was going to introduce you to Brey, too, but I can’t find her anywhere. You’ll see her later, I guess. You know Wyatt…this is Jason…and I don’t believe you’ve met Wyatt’s agent Gabe.” Jenna stated.

  Claudia felt almost claustrophobic with all the new names swimming around her head. She may have wanted to make new friends, but this was starting to feel ridiculous.

  “No, she hasn’t,” Gabe interjected. “But she’s your doctor, right? Wyatt says he owes her the world.”

  “All I did was give Jenna a routine exam,” Laney corrected. Claudia’s throat constricted realizing this must be the physician who discovered the lumps in Jenna’s breast a year ago, saving her life. “Jenna’s the brave one here,” Laney continued. “But, so you know, Wyatt, I do accept gifts. The more lavish, the better.”

  “You got it,” Wyatt declared, reaching for Jenna’s hand, with a determined look in his eyes.

  “Oh no you don’t. I need you to go back to being frugal for a while, Wyatt. Gabe, please make sure he doesn’t actually give Laney the world. We’re looking to buy a house closer to Tea and Griffen and I’m all about saving money right now.”

  “I’ll try, but I couldn’t even get him to accept doing that ESPN special. I don’t know how much pull I have with the guy.”

  “What special?” Jenna asked, dumbfounded.

  “The one they asked him to do about his career turnaround,” Gabe explained.

  Jenna pivoted to Wyatt quickly, a stern look quickly overtaking her pretty features. “Wyatt, why am I just learning about this now?”

  “Because it wasn’t a big deal. Don’t worry about it,” he answered, throwing an arm around her shoulders and kissing her cheek.

  “It sounds like a seriously big deal.”

  “Doc, please, calm down. I knew you’d want me to do it, and we’ve finally gotten a chance to relax together, so I went ahead and said no.”

  “Um, Laney, how about we head over there and get a drink?” Gabe asked Laney, clearly recognizing the strain of the moment. Jason tried to catch Claudia’s eye, too but Claudia wasn’t ready to go anywhere. The familiar feeling of irritation with her brother was more powerful than any discomfort she may be feeling.

  “Wy, this is just like you to think you know how to run everybody’s lives,” Claudia fumed, bursting into the conversation. Wyatt glared at Claudia, but she simply met his eyes, digging in even further. “You always do this — make decisions for everyone else, thinking it’s for our own good. It’s infuriating!” Claudia added.

  “This is none of your business,” Wyatt responded harshly, before turning back to Jenna.

  Jenna quickly took over the conversation. Her tone was even and firm. It still amazed Claudia how only Jenna seemed able to shut Wyatt up.

  “Wyatt, maybe I would’ve realized that, too, but you didn’t even give me the chance. This is exactly what you promised you wouldn’t do anymore,” Jenna added with a whisper.

  “I’ll never apologize for prote
cting you,” he grunted, staring in the distance.

  Jenna wrapped her arms around his waist. “Look at me,” she whispered.

  His eyes met hers, jaw tight, “They wanted to focus on you and what happened last year. I’m not going to put you out there like that…again…no matter what.”

  “You should’ve told me and let me be a part of this decision,” Jenna responded roughly. “At the very least, talked to me about it. That’s the whole point. We’re in this together.”

  Wyatt’s deeply worried face sent a shot of guilt through Claudia. Of course he was zealous about keeping his girlfriend from the world. Wyatt had always been an overprotective caretaker of the people he loved, which led him to take some serious chances with Jenna’s trust.

  When his secret relationship with Jenna became the stuff of headlines, he’d almost lost her forever. Those few months had been painful for Claudia, too — the speculation about their family, especially what role, or lack thereof, their long-absent NFL quarterback father had really played in their lives.

  With that mess finally behind them, Wyatt was probably obsessed with keeping Jenna away from all the pitfalls of a public life with him. Claudia started to apologize for butting in, when Wyatt moved a hand to Jenna’s neck, running his fingers upward into her hair, forcing her face closer to his. “Mi belleza, listen to me. I do this because I love you.”

  Jenna sighed softly, “No fair, Wyatt. I get that, but we will be talking about this later,” Jenna said thickly.

  “Claudia, I am also going to go grab a drink at the bar, want to join me?” Jason whispered in her ear, providing her an out, which she was now very ready to take.

  “Good idea,” Claudia breathed out in relief. “It’s probably better if we let them work this out in whatever way it is they do,” Claudia joked.