I pull up a moment later and she jumps down from my truck and instantly laces her fingers through mine. I look down at our conjoined hands and love how comfortable she’s gotten with publicly showing affection. It’s like she’s finally come to terms with the fact that we’re together and admitted that she truly has feelings for me.
I swear, getting her to actually admit it was the fight of my life. I was terrified on the inside that she was about to shut me down, but I was persistent and acted as though I was the most confident prick on the face of the earth.
I was honest with her though. Every word I said to her was the truth, even the part about her being in love with me. I know she feels it too, she’s just not ready to admit it yet, but when she is, I’ll be right here waiting.
Unfortunately for her, she’ll never get rid of me now. I’ll be her world until the day I die.
I pull the door open for her and she gets straight into searching through all the options for her salad. She goes nuts with the woman behind the counter, adding all sorts of shit into her salad, like shit I’ve never even heard of.
I point out something that looks good but has some fancy ass name and we head out of the salad bar. I walk with her down the road until we come into a park which fortunately has a park bench. We take a seat and she digs into her salad. I find myself watching as she rambles on about her day and the new little girl she saw this morning.
Once we’ve finished lunch, she turns to me and it’s like a light bulb moment. Her eyes widen and her mouth drops into the perfect little ‘O’. “Oh shit,” she gasps. “I’m so sorry. You wanted to tell me something. I’ve been too busy talking about work.”
“Don’t worry,” I laugh. “I like hearing you talk about your work. You get excited and your eyes light up like Christmas.” Her eyes drop and her cheeks flush with embarrassment. “Don’t be embarrassed,” I tell her as I take her hand. “I’ve seen you with your legs in the air and your ass perfectly on display.”
“Shut up,” she laughs. “I wasn’t embarrassed.”
“Bullshit.”
“I wasn’t,” she argues. “I was just… I don’t know, I guess I’m still getting used to the way you notice all the little things about me.”
“You better hurry up and get used to it,” I tell her. “Because I’m not going anywhere, and even though I’ve known you forever, I have a feeling there’s still so much I haven’t learned about you yet.”
She leans across the bench and gently presses her lips to mine. “You’d be right about that,” she murmurs before kissing me again and pulling back. “Now, what do you want to tell me?”
Shit. Now it’s my turn to cringe as I try to get words out. “I, um… what’s the deal with Brandon’s living arrangement?”
She gives me a funny look before answering the question. “He’s staying with Katia and her family until they can find something permanent for him,” she explains. “Why? You know, he’s safe there. His father can’t get to him.”
“I don’t doubt that. It’s just… what if I took him?”
“You want to foster him? Permanently?” she questions.
“Yeah, I do,” I tell her.
Her eyes begin to shine and a look of complete adoration comes over her. She gets up and walks around to my side of the bench before taking a seat on my lap. “You’re incredible,” she murmurs before she kisses me. “If you’re really serious, I’ll look into and get in touch with Susan. She’ll tell us how to go about it.”
“Us?” I question.
She grins up at me. “Well, you keep making a big deal about how we’re a package deal now, so I guess if Brandon is going to be yours, then by default, he’s going to be mine too.”
“Shit,” I curse. “I’m sorry. I didn’t consider that this would affect you too.”
“It’s ok,” she says. “I think it’s a great idea. I love that kid too, and if you want him there with you, then I fully support your decision.”
“You’re sure?” I question.
“Yeah,” she smiles. “I’m sure. Though, you know you’ll have to apply for a foster license which could take months? Social Services will have to do financial and health checks on you and probably a shit load of paperwork to go with it.”
I grin at her. I can’t believe how quickly she’s accepted this. In the last few minutes, it’s gone from something that’s been circling my mind for a few weeks to something that I’m positive I’m going to do. “You’re the best,” I tell her.
“I know,” she tells me. “But that shouldn’t be news to you.”
“It isn’t,” I smile as I get up off the bench and help her safely to her feet. “Come on,” I say as I take her hand. “Let me get you back to Rebels. I have a three o’clock appointment.”
“That’s still thirty minutes away,” she grins.
I shake my head in disbelief, knowing exactly what she plans on doing. I pull her into me and put my arm over her shoulder. “We’re in a park, babe. There are four families by the swing set and I’m not fucking you at Rebels with your brother in the building.”
“Please,” she murmurs quietly so no one around can overhear our conversation. “I could just sit on your desk and you could slide straight in. No one will ever know.”
“Don’t tempt me,” I beg. “I really don’t feel like being knocked out by Cole today.”
“Fine,” she says with an exaggerated sigh as we reach my truck. “I’ll have to do it myself.”
I grab her around her waist and press her up against the passenger’s side. “Don’t you dare,” I tell her. “From now on, your pleasure is mine. I’ll come over tonight and make it up to you.”
From the excited sparkle in her eyes, she’s completely played me and I absolutely love it. “Will you bring handcuffs?” she asks as she slips her hand under the hem of my shirt and splays her fingers across my abs.
“What makes you think I have handcuffs?” I question.
“Oh, I know you have handcuffs.”
I shake my head as the grin takes over. “Get your ass in the truck.”
For once I don’t have to fight her on it and she climbs straight in. We get back to Rebels ten minutes later and I park next to her car so she doesn’t have far to go. “I’ll see you tonight,” I tell her.
“I’m counting on it,” she grins before hopping out and getting into her own car. I wait and watch as she backs out of her parking spot before crossing over to Rebels. I walk in to find the gym exactly how I left it. Xander is busy grappling with Cole, the punching bags and speed balls are being used, and the weights are being lifted and dropped. Just the way I like it.
With fifteen minutes now left before my next client is due to walk in, I go down to my office to get as much shit done as possible in the short time frame. When it’s time to start setting up for my session, I head back into the main part of the gym and spot Jace in the studio, setting up for his boxing class.
“Hey,” I say, sticking my head through the door.
He looks up and as I’ve gotten used to over the past few days, there’s still a haunted look in his eyes, one I know won’t go away until he knows that Luke is ok.
We’re all devastated, but it’s hitting Jace the hardest. They’re best friends, but I think it’s more than that. I think he feels guilt for not being there with him. They used to serve together and this was Luke’s first tour without him. I hope he doesn’t blame himself, but after knowing him for so many years, I know that’s exactly what’s going on. Add all the guilt from hurting Cami and I couldn’t imagine what he’s feeling right now.
“Hey,” he grunts with a slight lift of his head.
“You all good, man?” I ask.
“Yeah,” he says, though he doesn’t mean it, he’s just saying it so I’ll leave him the fuck alone.
He goes to keep setting up but I stop him again. “Any news on Luke?”
He shakes his head and he almost looks pissed off. “No,” he grunts.
“Alright,” I
sigh, disappointed. “I’m here if you need me.”
He doesn’t respond but I don’t expect him to. He turns his back and carries on with what he’s doing, so I leave him to it. I get back to setting up for my session and try my best to give it my all, but with thoughts of Luke heavy on my mind, I’m afraid it’s my first time delivering a session where I don’t give one hundred percent.
The only thing getting me through is knowing that in a few hours, I’ll be sliding into my girl and getting lost in her beauty.
Chapter 21
Caden
It’s been six weeks since we heard what had happened to Luke and six weeks since there has been any sort of update. We keep trying for information, but getting anything from them is like talking to a brick wall. Hell, I don’t think Jace was even supposed to get any sort of information on Luke at all.
We call. We get nothing. I get it though, it’s all secret and need to know information. It’s just frustrating that we don’t know how he is, or where he is. Fuck, we don’t even know if he’s alive.
Not knowing has brought us all down so it’s not a surprise when the girls get together to force us to enjoy ourselves at Cole’s place.
I sit with Cole, Jace, and Xander in his backyard, watching as the girls try their hand at mixing new drinks. Rylee and Cami’s drinks have been pretty good so far, but Izzy and Imogen’s are god awful.
I can’t help but smile as I watch Imogen lift another drink to her lips before cringing as she swallows the pink liquid. “Gross,” she says before decorating the glass with a pineapple slice and a little umbrella. She turns around, notices I’ve seen her reaction to the drink before focusing her attention on Cole. She walks over to him and hands him her cocktail. “Here,” she smiles sweetly. “I made this just for you.”
He happily takes a sip and swallows the drink. He pulls a face before quickly giving her a smile. “It’s great,” he lies. “Thanks.”
She grins down at him before giving me a wink and walking away.
“You can tell her it’s shit. She can take it,” I remind him.
“Nah,” he tells me. “The girls want today to be about having fun. I’m not about to ruin it for her.”
“Dude,” I chuckle. “She tasted it before she gave it to you. She knows it tastes bad.”
“Shit,” he grunts before reaching out and placing the glass down on the table to be forgotten about. I wouldn’t be surprised if he ‘accidentally’ knocked it over.
At the mention of strippers and glory holes, I look across at Jace and Xander to try and work out what the fuck they’re talking about when I decide I really don’t want to know.
“So, it’s all going well then?” Cole asks.
I turn back to him and realize he’s talking to me with his eyes trained on Imogen.
I look across to her just as she turns back to me with a smile that completely lights up her face. “Yeah,” I tell him. “It’s going great.”
“It’s serious then?”
I nod my head. “Yeah, man,” I say. “She’s it for me.”
He nods his head in return and presses his lips together. “She looks happy,” he comments. “She laughs a lot now.”
“I know,” I say as a smile nearly rips my face in two.
He looks back at me and from the expression on his face, whatever it is he’s about to say is not something that’s going to be easy for him. “I shouldn’t have been so hard on you,” he tells me. “I just didn’t want to accept it.”
“No,” I tell him. “I deserved it. We both did. We went behind your back and betrayed your trust. I should have been honest with you fifteen years ago and I’ll do everything to earn that trust back.”
“You don’t need to,” he tells me with a sigh. “You’ve already got it. You always have. I was just pissed that I didn’t see it. I spent the last few months knowing each of you were seeing someone and trying to make guesses, but I never put it together.”
“I know,” I admit. “I could tell.”
He grabs his beer off the table and holds it out to me. “You’ve made her happy and that’s all I’ve ever wanted for her.”
I raise my own drink and clink it against his. “Thanks, man.”
He takes a sip of his drink before raising it to his lips. He leans forward on his elbows as a smirk crosses his face. “If I knew she would have been this thrilled about it, you should have started dating her years ago.”
With that comment, relief settles in my chest. Cole would never have said anything like that if there was even an ounce of anger left within him. This right here shows me that after the past few months of torture, he’s finally let it go and has been able to move on and forgive me. Hell, he’s even able to see the happiness shining through her eyes and joke with me.
I’ve got my best friend back and it feels amazing.
“Yeah right,” I scoff. “I would have had no chance in hell back then.”
“I guess you’re right,” he laughs as the girls come over with a few more drinks for us to try. Imogen flops down onto my lap while Rylee squishes in between me and Cole. Cami takes my other side in her need to place herself as far away from Jace, Izzy makes herself comfortable on the table, and Xander’s fiancé, Charli falls down on his lap.
An hour later, every single one of us has had way too much to drink.
Everybody is having a great time and talking animatedly when Izzy starts laughing at her phone. We all look over at her as the laughter completely takes over her. She starts to tumble forward and I shoot out a hand to stop her from falling to the ground and smashing her head into the concrete.
“What the hell are you laughing at?” Imogen questions with a grin as she watches her best friend.
“Oh, God,” Izzy laughs as she tries to get a hold of herself. She brings up her hand and wipes at a tear that’s fallen down her cheek. “I just saw this video on YouTube,” she starts.
“No, no, no,” Rylee cuts in. “The last time you saw something on YouTube, you and Imogen ended up playing Swiss ball roulette, and from memory, you both had nasty bruises on your asses for weeks.”
“This is so much better than that,” Izzy says.
“What is?” Imogen questions as she reaches forward and swipes Izzy’s phone right out of her hand. She presses the home button on the phone to light up the screen. Her YouTube app comes up and Imogen instantly hits play on the video she’s just watched.
I look over her shoulder and grin at the video of a bunch of drunken dickheads running around playing soccer with fucking trash cans on their heads.
“I’m so up for this,” Imogen announces.
“No way,” I laugh. “You’ll get yourself hurt.”
“What was that?” Imogen teases. “Sounds like there’s a pussy in the house.”
My mouth drops open as I look at my woman. “You’re fucking on. Girls against boys.”
“Ha,” she scoffs. “We’ve got this in the bag. Losers buy dinner.”
“Hold up,” Cole demands and he reaches across Rylee to grab the phone. He watches the video and a moment later is grinning. “Fuck yeah,” he laughs before handing the phone around and filling everyone in. He looks to Imogen. “I want a fucking feast for dinner,” he warns her.
“That’s great,” she whips. “I plan on dining in France tonight.”
Jesus. The challenge has been set now and once these two siblings are involved, there’s no going back.
Xander laughs at the video, prompting Cole to turn to him. “You’re out. I can’t afford any injuries with you.”
“What?” he grunts. “No way.”
“You can referee.”
He sulks back into his seat and crosses his arms over his chest like a pissed off kid having a tantrum. “Fine,” he groans, “but I get my dinner no matter which team wins.”
I think it over for a second. “Dude,” I grunt to Cole. “That’s five against three.”
Imogen holds a hand to her ear and I see the shit-eating grin on her face
. “What was that?” she teases. “Someone sounds scared.”
“Get fucked,” I laugh as I shoot to my feet. “Let’s do this.”
“Wait,” Jace says. “Where the hell are we going to find eight fucking trashcans?”
Ten minutes later, we stand on the grassed area of Cole’s backyard with all of his neighbor's trash cans covering our heads, and for some of the girls, the trash cans go right down to their thighs. We even went as far as to drill little eyeholes into each of the trash cans, otherwise, we wouldn’t see the fucking soccer ball.
A moment later, Xander blows a whistle and our game gets started. I dash forward and have to hold the trash can up a little to stop it bouncing down on my head. I kick the ball but have no idea where the hell it goes. I hear a crash a moment later and stop in my tracks as I try to readjust the eyeholes.
From where I’m standing, it looks as though Rylee and Izzy have crashed into each other and I can’t help but laugh at the sight. I search around and find Imogen running the wrong way while Charli’s on the ground laughing so hard and yelling about possibly pissing herself.
“I fucking got it,” Jace yells out a moment later.
I follow the sound of his voice but get slammed into by Cole who tries to run after Jace as well. “Fuck,” we each grunt as we fall to the floor.
Jace carries on with the ball, but who the fuck knows if he’s going the right way. Xander blows his whistle declaring a goal for us and we all cheer. It’s not over yet though, we agreed on the first team to three points will win.
Imogen gets herself ready in the middle, more determined than ever to win. “I’m coming for you, Caden,” she warns.
“I can’t wait,” I tell her, knowing the extra challenge will stir her.
The girls line up before us and we stare each other down through our tiny eyeholes. I have to turn my whole body to be able to see Xander, but when I do, I notice he’s videoing the whole thing. I groan as I realize this is going to end up on the Rebel’s Facebook page, but I’ve drunk too much to care right now.
I turn back to the girls just in time for Xander to blow the whistle for round two. We charge forward for the ball and I laugh as Jace trips over his feet and eats dirt. Imogen and Cole crash in the middle which somehow makes the ball rebound in my direction.
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