Tethered (Flawed Love Book 4)

by Emma Louise

  “It’s fine,” I cut him off, waving my hand around like it wasn’t even a thing. “I think we’ve moved past that already.” Truth is, I don’t want to think about that night. Seeing him with that woman was painful in a way that it really shouldn’t have been. He isn’t mine, so what he does with other women shouldn’t bother me.

  Except, it did. That’s why I’m not going there with him again. He wants to be friends? Check up on me and the baby? I’ll be happy with that. I just have to remind myself that’s all we’ll ever have. Friendship. The last thing we need is to have the lines between us blurred by jealousy. We're going to be co-parents, that’s it.

  “Where are we going?” I ask when I notice that we haven't left the suburbs yet. I can’t think of any decent places to eat so close to my house. Usually, it’s a decent drive away to get something worth eating around here.

  “You’ll see,” he says nonchalantly, not looking my way as he keeps driving.

  “Why do I not like the sound of that?” I ask, but all I get in reply is yet another smirk.

  A few minutes later, we pull up outside of a little two-story house in a quiet cul-de-sac. The lawn is neat, and there’s a pretty flower bed border that runs all the way around.

  Asa doesn’t say anything as he gets out of the car and moves to open my door. “Where are we?” I ask as I step outside. Before he answers, a huge ball of fluff runs out from the side of the house, coming straight toward us.

  “Calm it, Rufus,” Asa clips out, and the dog skids to a halt right in front of us, sitting on his hind legs. He’s practically vibrating with repressed energy as he stares at us, his tail wagging. Well, wherever we are, Asa is obviously familiar with it here.

  “Can I pet him?” I ask Asa as he tries to walk us past the dog.

  “You can. He's a great dog, but excitable as shit. If you’re not careful, he’ll have you flat on your back as he tries to lick you to death,” he tells me, but I'm already scratching the dog that I'm guessing is a malamute, behind his ear. He lets out a long groan as his tongue lolls out of his panting mouth.

  “You like that?” I croon, loving the way his body bends to get me to scratch him in the perfect spot.

  “Come on. You can have more puppy time later. I’m sure he’ll be hounding you for scratches after that,” Asa says, pulling me away from my new friend and up the porch steps. We stop in front of the door, and instead of knocking on the door, Asa puts his hand on the handle as if he’s just going to walk inside. He doesn’t; instead, he looks back at me.

  “You ready for this?” The cocky grin is back, showcasing a dimple hidden in his dark scruff-covered cheek. Before I can answer, he swings the door open and pulls me inside, leading us to a comfortable sitting room. The TV is on, and kids’ toys are scattered on the floor. Instinct tells me this isn’t normal, that whatever is going on isn’t going to be fun for me. If it was, he would have just told me where we are, right? So why am I still following blindly behind him?

  “Uncle Asa!” a girly voice calls out, a blonde blur barrelling toward us. Reaching down, Asa grabs ahold of the blur, lifting her onto his hip.

  “Tori girl,” he greets, giving her a kiss on the side of her head. She must be around three or four-years-old with huge blue eyes and pretty blonde curls that are held back by two sparkly barrettes. “Where are your brother and sister?” he asks her, but she’s too busy staring at me to answer.

  “Who’s you?” she asks me around the thumb she has jammed in her mouth.

  “This is Lucy. Can you say hi?” Asa asks her, but she doesn’t say hi; instead, she tips her head back and lets out a loud yell. “Mommyyyyy!” she cries, making me jump. Who knew something so small could be so loud?

  A second later a beautiful woman walks into the room. I’d be worried about Asa bringing me to a girlfriend’s house if I hadn’t seen her at TJ and Bree’s wedding a few months ago. She’s Avalon. Asa’s sister. Bree’s sister.

  He did not bring me to meet his sister without warning me?

  Is he insane?

  When she notices me there, Avalon does a double take before she looks me over from head to toe. It’s not a friendly look.

  “I know you,” she states, gaze bouncing back and forth between Asa and me.

  “Av, you know Lucy.” He introduces us. “Luce, my sister, Avalon.”

  “Tori, go tell Lainey that you need to get cleaned up for dinner,” Ava says without taking her assessing eyes off me.

  Tori kicks her legs, and Asa sets her on her feet. She’s running off in search of her older sister without so much as a backward glance before I can even blink.

  “Av—” Asa starts, but he doesn’t get any further when the front door opens again and my very worst nightmare stands there.

  Asa needs to run.

  Fast.

  Because I’m going to kill him.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  LUCY

  My heart hammers away wildly in my chest at the thought of what’s about to happen. Why the heck would he do this to me?

  Breeze and TJ walk into the room, Abel balanced on his dad’s hip. They’re too wrapped up in each other to notice we are even here.

  It’s TJ who looks up first, his heavy brow furrowing in confusion as his eyes bounce between Asa and me. Breeze notices the change in his expression, and her eyes follow TJ’s.

  “Hey,” she says, the confusion clear. “What’s going on?” TJ couldn’t have told her about the baby because she obviously has no clue what’s going on.

  “Is Beau here yet?” Asa asks Avalon, ignoring the stifling tension that has filled the room. She tells him that Beau and her husband Carl are in the backyard getting the grill started. She quickly disappears when he asks her to bring them inside.

  “Asa, you’re scaring me,” Breeze says. TJ leans down and whispers something in her ear. She relaxes the tiniest bit, her body leaning back to rest against his front.

  And through it all, I just stand there. It’s like I’m not even inside my own body anymore. I’m just observing the car crash that’s about to happen. I can’t even bring myself to look directly at anyone, and I’m sure they must think I'm some kind of idiot.

  Breeze and I might get on okay now, but she’s going to end up hating me by the end of the day. I wouldn’t be surprised if his whole family hates me, judging by their reactions to me being here so far.

  “What did you do to Avalon, bro? She’s freaking out to Carl out there.” Beau, Asa’s younger brother, laughs as he walks into the now crowded room. “Oh shit! You do not fuck around.” He laughs again, slapping Asa on the shoulder before throwing himself down on the sofa. He doesn’t stop grinning as he takes a long drink from the bottle of beer he brought in with him.

  When his sister and brother-in-law finally come inside, Asa moves to stand close to my side, his hand coming to rest against the small of my back. I’m wound too tight to notice the touch like I usually would.

  “I figured it best to tell you all here at once,” Asa starts, and the room goes deathly silent. You could hear a pin drop in here.

  “Lucy is pregnant.” There’s a collective gasp at his announcement. Still, I don’t dare look at any of them. Instead, I keep my eyes on Asa. His eyes drop down to meet mine as he continues to speak. “And the baby is mine.”

  At that, there’s a burst of sound around us as everyone starts speaking at once, the room erupting into chaos around us.

  “Told you that you were fucked,” Beau hoots, wiping away the beer that drips from his chin after he sprayed it everywhere in a fit of surprise.

  “Please. Tell me this is a joke. You can’t be that much of an idiot,” Avalon says, a look of horror twisting up her pretty face. Asa’s jaw tics as he fights to stay calm. I might not know him well, but I know he’s not the type of man who takes being called stupid lightly.

  “That’s enough. Let’s all just calm—” Carl starts to say, but he trails off when the sound of laughter fills the room around us.

  We
all turn to stare at Breeze. She’s practically doubled over as tears roll down her cheeks. If I couldn’t see it with my own eyes, I'd never believe she was laughing so hard she could hardly catch her breath.

  Trying to compose herself, she stands up straight, swiping at the tears that coat her face. Her shoulders are still bouncing as she struggles to contain the laughter. She slams a hand over her mouth as the rest of us gape at her in silence.

  “I’m sorry,” she tries to say, but she's quickly overtaken by yet another round of giggles. Looking back at TJ, I fully expect to see disappointment aimed my way. Instead, he looks like he too is trying to hold in laughter.

  “Have you lost your damn mind?!” Avalon explodes, and everyone else in the room starts to speak at once.

  ***

  “I swear, I had no idea who he was,” I tell Breeze a little while later when it’s just the two of us sitting on the deck chairs out on the porch. I’m struggling to accept that she’s sitting here smiling at me, not scratching my eyes out.

  “I don’t doubt that for a minute,” she replies, a soft smile on her face.

  After the chaos of Asa’s grand announcement, Breeze dragged me outside so we could talk alone. The rest of his family are still arguing inside, judging by the shouts I can still hear. I tried to explain everything that happened between her brother and me while doing my best to not make her think I'm out in strip bars sleeping with random guys on a regular basis.

  “I can’t say this isn’t an absolutely crazy situation, but I’m happy for you guys.” Her words settle something inside of me. The part of me that’s been consumed with worry over how this was going to go down. Maybe Asa was right to ambush me like he did tonight, kind of like ripping a Band-aid off in one painful swoop.

  “It’s kinda wild, though. I mean, you and my brother?”

  “Oh no! It's not like that between us.” My voice raises painfully high when I realize where her thoughts are going.

  “It’s not?” she asks, confusion forming on her face.

  “No, it’s not. We’re just friends. It was just a ... uh ... brief thing, you know?” I babble, still stumbling over my words.

  “Does Asa know that?” Bree asks, her head tipped to the side as she waits for me to answer.

  “Pardon?”

  “Does Asa know you’re just friends? Because judging by the way he was with you in there, I’d say he might have a different opinion about where things stand between you.”

  I could laugh at how horribly wrong she is. Maybe I should tell her about his attitude toward me over the last few weeks. That would be an eye opener for her, I’m sure. Instead, the masochist inside of me asks, “How was he with me?”

  “Lucy,” she says on a deep sigh. “He didn’t take his eyes off you. When Ava lost her mind, the first thing he did was move as close to you as he possibly could.”

  I knew he was near, I felt him there, but now that I really think about it, he did move closer to me.

  “I know Asa comes across as this hard ass.” Bree’s words cut into my thoughts. “But when it comes to family, the people he loves, my brother is really just a giant teddy bear.”

  Her words warm something inside me because I know she’s right. The Asa I've had for the last few days has proved that. He’s been gentle and considerate with me. No matter what happens between us, our baby will always have that from him.

  “I thought you’d be happy to hear there’s nothing going on between us.” I chuckle nervously, trying to ease the sudden tension.

  “I’m happy if Asa is happy,” she tells me, and there’s no doubting the truth in her words. “He deserves that. And so do you.”

  A wave of emotion slams into me as Bree reaches out and grabs my hand. “Damn hormones,” I blubber, losing the battle to control the tears that have filled my eyes.

  “Hey. What’s going on out here?” A concerned-looking Asa walks out onto the porch. Stepping closer to me, he crouches next to my chair. His eyes rove over my face as his hands come up to wipe at the last few tears that line my cheeks.

  “It’s okay,” Breeze tells him. “We’re okay.”

  “Doesn’t look it to me,” he grumbles, sliding his hand along my jaw and into my hair. The contact sends a shiver racing down my spine. Bree’s words fire through my mind. Does Asa know you’re just friends? Thankfully, Asa speaks, halting that train of thought.

  “You ready to get out of here?”

  “You guys are going already?” Bree asks as Asa helps me stand from the chair.

  “I think it’s better for everyone if we let Avalon calm down, for today at least.”

  “You’re probably right about that,” she says on an eye roll. “Avalon is the dramatic one in this family,” she adds, causing Asa to snort in disbelief.

  “She’s not the only one,” he says close to my ear, and goose bumps pop up all over my sensitive skin.

  ***

  By the time we say goodbye to everyone, I’m completely exhausted. Asa’s family all gave me hugs and offered us congratulations before we left. Even Avalon begrudgingly offered a meek congratulations, much to my surprise.

  “Chinese takeout?” Asa asks after I’ve yawned out loud for the third time.

  “You can just take me home, if you’d prefer?” I offer, secretly hoping he doesn’t.

  Asa pulls into a short driveway, and I get my first real look at his house. The last time I was here, there was too much going on for me to appreciate how nice the place is. It’s a beautiful red brick two-story house with a wrap-around porch, right out of my dreams. Pushing open the front door, I find myself in a huge entryway with a beautiful wooden staircase that leads up to a second floor. Asa gives me a quick tour of the downstairs. There’s a formal sitting room with a sofa that looks like it’s never been used, a dining room with a glass table that, again, looks unused. There’s no decoration anywhere. No pictures on the walls, no ornaments anywhere. It’s beautiful, but dull and lifeless.

  Asa guides me into the kitchen, and there’s finally signs of life. This is where he spends all his time. The room is a huge open-plan space, the kitchen separated from a comfortable-looking den by a stunning marble island, lined with bar stools.

  One of the white walls is covered in framed pictures of all different sizes. The ceilings are high, vaulted, and lined with four incredible skylights. The dark evening sky is lit with stars.

  “Wow. This place is amazing.” I sigh, my head tipped back as I stare up at the sky.

  “Thanks. I bought it a few years ago, and it didn’t look like this. It's been a lot of work,” he says, dumping the bags of takeout on the island and pulling out plates and cutlery.

  “You did it yourself?” I’m impressed when he tells me that yes, he did most of the work himself with the help of his brother and some friends.

  “Are you sure that’s all you want?” Asa eyes my bowl of plain fried rice skeptically. I’m cuddled up in the corner of a huge leather sectional. The TV is on, but the sound is turned down low as we eat and talk.

  “I’m sure. The sickness is more manageable if I stick to plain food,” I tell him on a shrug.

  “I feel bad for eating food with actual flavor now.” He chuckles lightly, the sound still slightly foreign coming from him.

  “I’m sure I’ll survive. Trust me, bland food is better when it’s coming back up the other way.” I have to laugh at the look of horror that passes over his face. He throws his fork into his pork lo-mein, obviously turned off by my comment.

  “Thanks for that mental image,” he mutters, pushing his food away.

  “Serves you right for reminding me how good Chinese food smells when I can’t have any.”

  Asa gifts me with one of his rare smiles. The flash of white through the dark of his bearded face is mesmerizing.

  It’s already something I know I need to see more of.

  “So, you got to experience the crazy Lucas clan in full effect tonight. When can I expect to face the wrath of your family? Any broth
ers going to try to fuck me up for defiling you?” Asa asks as we clean away the mess from dinner. He’s trying to make light of the situation, and I can’t blame him. He doesn’t know that I have no family. Not one that I want anyway. He must sense my discomfort because he stops cleaning away the leftovers when I don’t answer him right away.

  “Nope. No brothers for you to worry about,” I quip, a false brightness trying to hide the hurt from my voice. Grabbing the empty water bottles from my hands, he drags me over to my seat. Putting pressure on my hand, he forces me to sit next to him. There’s hardly an inch between us, and I have to fight the urge to press myself even closer still.

  “Talk to me,” he urges, and I get the feeling he’s not going to let it drop, so I do as he asks.

  “There’s not much to tell. I’m an only child. Mom died when I was young. My dad did a shit job of looking after me, and I was raised by his mom, my grandma. She wasn’t happy with being stuck with a kid at her age. She wanted to be out scoring her next fix.” Asa doesn’t interrupt, but pity is etched onto his face. It’s the one thing I hate, people pitying me. I did okay despite a terrible upbringing. My family didn’t care, but I made it out of that shit on my own. I don’t need pity from anyone.

  “She was a junkie. They all were. My mom OD’d when I was fourteen. I stayed until my eighteenth birthday. Moved to Savannah for college, and that was the last time I had anything to do with any of them.”

  “They’ve never reached out?”

  “Why would they? They thought I was a stuck-up bitch who was too good to get high with them.”

  “What the fuck?” he growls angrily. “Tell me you’re fucking joking.” His sharp voice sparks the air thick with tension.

  “I wish I was. They would spend as much time as they could either taking drugs or finding things to steal so they could make money to buy more drugs. When I refused to help them with that, they basically ignored me.”

  “Shit. Sweet cheeks, I don’t even know what to say to that,” he says softly, his voice sounding pained.