by A. C. Bextor
“I never really knew enough about her, I guess.”
Putting down my glass and looking him in the eye, I aim to make my point clear. “You were lucky she left,” I say without doubt. “She’s not a nice person. I don’t know what she was like when she was married to your dad, but she was never a good mom.”
“I had my dad; I didn’t need her.” The emotion in his eyes is sad and regretful. “He was the best.”
“Tell me about him.”
He thinks for a second before taking another drink of his beer. This is an emotional subject for him and I know this, but want to hear more. “He was always strict growing up. He watched out for my friends as if they were his own. He loved music and made sure I found it early.”
“Did he want you to sing?”
Travis smiles but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “Nah. He said I belonged in the background. Said I didn’t have the personality for it.”
“You do lack charm,” I admit, and he starts to turn red.
“I don’t like being front and center like my friends. I hate it.”
“So, it sounds like your dad was your best friend.”
“All my life,” he confirms. “Until he lost his.”
“I’m sorry. That had to have been hard on you being so young.”
“It wasn’t easy. I was old enough by then to take care of myself, but things weren’t good for me for a very long time.”
“Are you better now? You like your life, I mean?”
“Yeah, I suppose I do. But I can’t think of many things I wouldn’t give up to have him back. Even if it were for just a day. I miss him so much, even now.”
Offering my support, years later, I try to give him all I can. “You’re not alone anymore. You have me; the unemployed, single, and lonely sister I’m sure you’ve always dreamed of having.”
His head tilts to the side, his voice soft and sure. “I’m glad you found me.”
“Your toe feel the same?”
His face hardens a bit, his hand finds his thigh of the injured foot and squeezes. I hold in a laugh as he talks through his teeth. “That’ll heal. Eventually.”
*****
Hours later, I’m sitting around Travis’s dining room table after Marlee, Toby, and their young son, Maddux, have left. For whatever reason, their four-year-old son took a liking to me and literally stayed seated on my lap the entire night. Between him and Rae’s six-year-old little boy, Decklan, I’m mentally exhausted.
“Kids wear me out. I hope I wasn’t too transparent.”
“You were fine, Lace,” Trav says while pouring me another glass of wine. He smiles as he hands it to me and advises, “Maddux wears everyone out, and Deck doesn’t bother anything or anyone other than Ace and Raegan. So if he paid any attention to you, he liked you.”
“Maddux. That boy certainly can wear a person out,” Bean says weakly from the chair in the corner of the living room. She looks as tired as I feel.
Bean, Ace and Sarah’s seventy-four year-old grandmother, is nothing how I would’ve imagined her to be. She’s small in size but fierce in heart. Throughout the evening, I watched her simultaneously keep Maddux, Deck, Ace, and Sarah all in line and she did it without words. One disappointing sneer disguised as a grin from her, and she had them settled and behaving quickly.
Ace and Sarah argue like true siblings, but they do it without any sense of volume control. Ace only needs to say something to Sarah and she snaps at him as though he just broke one of her toys.
Toby and Marlee were both really nice. They didn’t pry too much and accepted the answers I gave them in regards to my past and what brought me here. Marlee is happy I may be working at The Ward. Ace and Rae are still nervous. If I get the job, I start tomorrow night. I’ve heard Monday’s aren’t too chaotic and it’s a good night to train without crowd interference.
Referring to Marlee and Toby, I ask the room, “How long have they been married?”
Travis pauses in thought, most likely trying to remember. “About five years, maybe.
She’s due in seven months or so.”
“Marlee’s pregnant?”
“Yeah. She had a rough time with Maddux so they aren’t celebrating it until after her first trimester or whatever. It’s risky.”
“They look happy.”
“They are. He’s crushed on her since high school but never got the balls to ask her out until years later. Sorry they rushed off tonight.”
“No worries.” I smile thankfully, appreciating the break from Madman Maddux.
“These kids run around here like the house, or more importantly their toys, are on fire. Sarah, too. She’s as bad as the rest of ’em. Her and that cell phone she’s got glued to her face.” Bean continues venting in absence of the chaos no longer in the room. “When I was their age, my mama would’ve whipped my butt raw for saying or doing what those little ones get away with now.”
“Yes, we know, Bean,” Trav adds, grinning over at her small form.
“Don’t patronize me, young man. I’ve got a bucket of ‘what for’ in my coat pocket and it’s got your name on it.”
I’ve found I love her no-nonsense style.
“Sorry,” he mutters sincerely, but winks at me with opposite intent.
“Someone’s gonna be sorry if Hayden Merit Flynn doesn’t get his handsome face here. I’ve got things to do and I’m not leaving ’til I see my oldest boy.”
Hayden, the last of the group, has yet to arrive. He’s late.
I’ve heard about him from both Travis and Ace. Rae had mentioned a few things about him as well, but in more detail. She mentioned his player status, his voice that leaves women sulking in his wake after he serenades each of them on stage. His ever-endearing charismatic charm he uses to caress them with. I’ve known those types of players all my life. I grew up and ended up briefly dating a few. I’ve yet to meet one I can tolerate, so I’m going into this introduction remembering he’s Travis’s friend and he’s an important piece to Trav’s life.
“Travis, when are you teaching me to drive?” Sarah asks with urgency as she comes out of Travis’s bedroom where she was watching television with Rae and Deck, trying to get him to sleep. He’s six, probably too old for late-evening naps, but Rae had said he was carrying a small fever and wasn’t feeling well. I don’t know the first thing about kids, but Raegan’s got the mommy practice down.
Sarah is Ace’s little sister. From what I’ve already been able to see, she’s a handful and Travis cares a lot for her. They all do. Travis told me about their parents leaving when they were kids. His grandmother, Bean, stepped in and took care of them. Ace thinks the world of his younger sister, and she and Raegan are close, as well.
Winking at me with orneriness and turning back to Sarah, Trav answers her with sarcasm. “I’ll teach you to drive as soon as you ask me nicely.”
This doesn’t sit well, at all. She shrieks her annoyance and it echoes off the walls making me wince in response. “What?” She stands from her place in the living room chair. “You already said you’d take me. I can’t learn from Ace, damn it. He’s an ass and you know it. I have to practice, Travis. Please!”
I hear Bean let out a disgusted breath before she snaps. “Sarah! Please, your mouth. You’re a young lady now. For your own sake, act like one.”
Ignoring Bean’s instruction and Sarah’s sass, Travis rolls his eyes in what looks to be exhaustion. “I’ll take you this week. How’s that?”
She stalks off toward the bathroom while muttering under her breath, “This week, right. Like last week and the week before. I’m almost seventeen and all my other friends use their driver’s license, so why do I need to use mine?” Then she answers herself while slamming the door, the pictures shaking on the walls as she does. “I guess I don’t.”
Ace comes in from outside after hearing the commotion. “Who’s slamming doors?” He searches the room for whose missing and assumes correctly. “Squirt,” he says with a clenched jaw.
�
��Your sister’s pissed about not being able to drive. We need to teach her soon. I agree it’s probably time. She’s got her license, but can’t use it.”
“It’s been time but I haven’t been ready to let her get behind the wheel alone yet,” Bean states her defense.
Ace grabs a beer from the fridge and comes stalking toward us. I’ve only just met him two weeks ago, the day after I arrived, but have recognized since then that he’s a hot-head.
Looking thoughtfully at Travis and me sitting on the couch, he explains, “She’s almost seventeen. Once she gets that fuckin’ license I’ve got a whole new bag of problems. She’s already talking about curfew, boys, and dating. As if she gets any of that.”
Raegan walks in the room looking half-asleep. I’m guessing Decklan finally took his nap and she was close to follow. “Who’s talking about dating?”
“Sarah,” Travis clips shortly in her direction.
Hearing this, Raegan turns around and goes back where she came from. I laugh quietly at her act of denial when Ace grabs her around the waist to stop her. He won’t let her avoid the topic and when he explains, I understand why. “Oh, no. This is on you. Givin’ her clothes, showin’ her how to put on makeup, and all that talk about boys. You should be the one to have to teach her to drive.”
“Oh, God, no.” Her eyes go wide, and she looks back at him as he stands behind her and pleads, “Ace, you love me, remember? You wouldn’t love me after a near-death experience with Sarah behind the wheel. I’d probably end up having a nervous breakdown.”
The room quiets and for a few seconds, I don’t understand why until I look at Travis. His head is tilted to the side in thought and his eyes are boring into Rae’s. I had heard bits and pieces from the both of them about Decklan’s dad and his uncle. They terrorized Raegan and Ace in order to keep them apart so they could take Decklan away from her. So, to escape the problems she was facing at the time, she accidently overdosed and nearly died while doing it.
When Travis told me of all of this, his voice was laced with sadness at the thought of something happening to her, or any of them for that matter. He was deeply affected and now, seeing how close the two are and watching them interact with each other, I have a better understanding of how strongly almost losing her frightened him.
“Raegan,” Travis whispers quietly.
After squeezing Ace’s hands at her waist, he lets her go with his own somber look of concern. She walks to Travis and puts her head on his shoulder as she stands beside him. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. I was kidding. It was a joke. A bad one.”
Since I feel like an outsider looking in, I study my hands to avoid them. Ace clears his throat to get my attention then smiles weakly and nods reassuringly. I’m glad to see he’s not always crabby and delicate situations don’t escape him.
Travis kisses the crown of Rae’s head. “The worst. Don’t tell any more of them, please.”
“I won’t. Unless it’s a really funny one,” she pushes.
“No.” His head shakes to reiterate his answer. “Your jokes are stupid.”
Thankfully, there’s a knock at the door to help release the tension in the room. It opens without invitation. When I turn from the couch to see who it is, I freeze mid-motion.
The man standing in the doorway is tall, broad, incredibly tanned, and beautiful. Generally, as I know them to be, men are supposed to appear rugged and tough; those are the men I find myself attracted to, anyway. Granted, my track record with men is shit, so what do I know.
With severity, I’m mentally kicking sweet Raegan’s ass right now.
Everything she told me about Hayden was in confidence. She didn’t want him to ever know how the others think of him and the way he portrays his personality toward women. But she left out one very important thing. His beauty.
Hayden stands at least six-foot-two. He’s not bulky like Travis or Ace, but very lean and fit. His tanned skin in contrast with his ice blue eyes is enough to render a woman speechless. His hair is dark, nearly black in color, and his complexion is near perfect. The two days’ growth of his jaw answers that he doesn’t cater to his beauty—he just naturally owns it.
I can’t help but take a quick inventory of his appearance. He’s wearing a maroon Henley that wraps around his shoulders and arms with confidence, dark-washed blue jeans that grasps his thighs the same, and a pair of what looks to be thick black motorcycle boots similar to Ace’s.
“Knock, knock?” he greets while closing the door behind him. “Door was open.”
“Hey, Hayden,” Raegan says sheepishly while still under Travis and Ace’s glare. Her little-thought-out joke is still ruining the mood.
“Well, don’t stand there. Come in and grab a beer,” Ace snaps, not waiting for him to move.
Bean stands slowly from her chair, not waiting for Hayden to get comfortable. It’s as though she already knows she’s first in line for greeting.
“Where have you been all this time? You’re late,” she snaps at him while motioning him over to her.
His face falls momentarily. “I’m sorry,” he says shyly, as if an apology was all he could offer without sounding like he was searching for an excuse.
I laugh out loud, all by myself, as all heads turn my way.
Shit.
“What’s funny?” Now sitting beside me, Ace whispers once the others continue their conversation.
I look to Ace, not knowing how to explain but bring my voice to a whisper as he did. “Umm, I just realized that Bean got every man in this room to apologize to her for one thing or another.”
He smiles, the first smile I’ve seen on him that hasn’t been directed at Rae. “You’ll get yours, too. She has the effect on all of us. She’s the warden, we’re the inmates.”
I look back over to Hayden and Bean and see he’s got his arm around her small shoulders as she looks up at him with adoration. Her hand reaches to his face and she pulls him down to kiss his cheek.
That charismatic charm Rae was talking about? I’m watching the up-close and animated version right now. He’s not age or gender-discriminate. He charms everyone, which is kind of hot in a weird way.
“Where’s everyone else?” he finally speaks to the room. His voice is low and raspy and I’m suddenly curious to hear it through a crowded room, blaring from distant overhead speakers.
“I’m here. I’m here,” Sarah exclaims as she comes barreling out of the bathroom in a rush and getting everyone’s attention. She’d been in there a while. Her hair is set in a perfect ponytail, her makeup refreshed, and if I’m right, I smell vanilla spritzer.
Hayden turns in her direction. “Hey, Sarah. How are you?”
She blushes immediately and takes a seat next to Travis on the couch. If I’m not mistaken, I heard a small giggle escape Raegan right before Ace stood from the table and pulled her to his side.
“I’m good.” She starts her list of complaints. “Ya know . . . still without a job, a boyfriend, and a life.”
“Knock it off, squirt,” Ace barks at the same time Travis glares at her at his side.
“Hayden can take me driving, can’t he?” she asks with hope in her tone.
“Oh, no, Hayden most definitely can not. That’s Ace’s deal,” Hayden rebuts. I’m sensing he’s put in the middle often.
“Hayden, this is Lacey. Lacey, meet Hayden.” After Travis interrupts their friendly banter, silence hits the room. Hayden’s eyes find mine and he smiles shortly; the dimple on one side of his face is deep and his blue eyes are boring into my green ones with suspicion.
*****
Hayden
“Hi,” she replies weakly, trying to regain composure. The read I get from her greeting is that she’s affected by me already.
Good.
Walking toward her, my tall frame looms over her small one and I offer my hand in greeting. “It’s good to meet you, Lacey.”
“Oh, here we go,” I hear Sarah utter quietly on the other side of Travis.
/> After taking Lacey’s hand in mine, I shake it and let it drop. She doesn’t say anything at all, but studies my face carefully. She’s watching me and the room at the same time.
Walking away, I lean my body against the wall and feeling anything but casual, I make easy conversation to gauge her reaction. “It’s good to finally meet you. Good to see Trav’s finally letting you out into our crowd of crazy.” Taking a pull from my beer, my eyes don’t leave hers. I watch as she blushes under my gaze but holds my eyes with a defiant challenge.
Confirmation. She’s affected, but not easy.
When Ace called to tell me we were finally meeting Lacey, I was both relieved and apprehensive. A new member to our small circle leaves many open questions. I had pictured her to look like Travis. I was under false assumption that she would be bulky, moody, and foul-mouthed. Obviously, I was wrong and definitely not prepared for what I’m looking at now.
She and Travis have the same eye color, emerald green. Their hair matches to the same shade of strawberry blonde, and their skin tone is an equal shade of fair. This, however, is where all the physical connections end.
Lacey has high cheekbones and small freckles placed perfectly around her slightly pointed nose. Her neck is long and appears from here to be soft and sleek; my fingers itch to wrap my hand around it, pinning her where I mean for her to be. The visual is vivid. Her hands, which I also can’t stop looking at, brag long fingers and perfectly pink, manicured fingernails.
Straightening her back, she takes a drink from her wine glass and being me, I stand against the wall wishing I were that goblet and her hands and lips were around my cock.
“I’m glad he waited. It was an adjustment moving here and I was trying to focus on getting a job.” She responds as though she’s sticking up for Travis’s decision to keep her away from the rest of us. I’ve already forgotten what I said to make her say this.
“Lacey, for you.” Travis hands Lacey his cell phone. The look on her face registers the same as mine; neither of us heard it ring or Travis answer it.
After her puzzled expression fades, she stands, walks to Trav and takes the call, smiling into the receiver and moving toward the bedrooms of his apartment. I’m cautiously wondering who may be on the other end. Maybe she has a boyfriend or fiancé. I look down to avoid my disappointing thought being shown to others.