Reeve (The Phoenix Boys #3)

by Amy Davies

  “Don’t be like this, Lipsy, please. I said we both need sleep, nothing more.”

  “Ok, so why can’t you sleep here?” He looks to the floor. “Don’t bother, Reeve. Go home and get some sleep. I will text Letty in the morning and ask her if I can catch a ride with her and Ryder. Night, Reeve.” This time I close the door. My heart sinks and my body feels heavy, leaning against the closed door, tears fill my eyes.

  And the shoe drops. I am not good enough. Words mean fuck all these days.

  I walk into my bedroom and pick out a tank top and shorts to wear to bed, and then I pick up my toiletries and towel and hit the shower. Letting the hot water run over my body, I hope it will help clear my head but no such luck. He will always be on my mind. A sob breaks through and I slide down the tiled wall and sit on the floor of the shower and let the water wash away the sinking feeling.

  I don’t know how long I sit there but the cold water brings me out of my head. Climbing out of the shower, I dry myself off and get into my bed clothes. I run the brush through my hair but don’t dry it, too tired to. I drag my body over to the bed and slide under the covers. How can today start with such excitement and then turn to pure joy at finally meeting Rowan and Lyric but end in heartache? Seeing Juicy and Rafe get their little family made my heart swell, they deserve this. Everyone deserve their happily ever after, just apparently not me. Not good enough.

  Bang, bang, bang.

  Banging on the door wakes me from my sleep; my heart is pounding knowing that I am in the apartment alone. Rafe stayed at the hospital with Juicy and the girls. I lift my phone from the nightstand and check the time. It’s quarter to one in the bloody morning. The knocking continues and I make my way to the door, snatching up Rafe’s baseball bat on the way. I get close to the door and go up on my toes to see through the peephole. What the hell.

  “What the fuck, Reeve? What the bloody hell are you doing here?” I ask when I fling the door open and see a much disheveled looking Reeve Phoenix. He sways as he steps towards me. Great just bloody great, he is drunk.

  “I need you, baby. All those other women mean nothing to me,” he slurs. Other women? Oh my God, did he cheat on me?

  “What other women?” I ask through gritted teeth. My anger is growing.

  “The ones at da bar.” He flicks his wrist in all directions.

  “So you didn’t sleep here with me, so you could go out and shag some other girl? Well fuck you very much for proving me right all a-fucking-long. Go home, Reeve we are fucking done.” I hear someone running down the small hallway, so I look around Reeve and see Skeet running towards us.

  “Hey asshole, didn’t I tell you not to come here? Fucknut.” Skeet goes to help Reeve into the apartment but I raise my hand to stop him.

  “Stop! He is not coming in here, take him home. I am done, Skeet. I thought I meant something to him but words mean fuck all to him. Take his cheating arse away from me.”

  Skeet looks at me with confusion all over his face. He lifts Reeve up a bit more and pushes past me. He flops him down on the couch and turns to me.

  “Reeve did not cheat on you, Beautiful. He met me and the boys at the bar and we had a few drinks. He needed to talk and we decided to have a little celebration for the twins. Girls were all over him, Leah, but he turned them all down, every single one of them. I swear on my own life that he did not touch any of them, he wouldn’t do that to you.” The weight on my chest lifts. I do believe him. I know that they are like true brother minus the DNA but Skeet wouldn’t lie to me.

  “Ok, Skeet I believe you. You can leave him there. I will go fetch a blanket for him.” I leave them in the living room and go and get a blanket from the closet for Reeve. I hold the knitted blanket to my chest and let out a big breath. For that brief second I truly thought that he had cheated on me. What does that say about our relationship? Can I truly trust him? I don’t at this moment, which sits like lead in my stomach. Walking back into the living room, Skeet is leaning against the wall, watching his best friend sleep. I love the whole non-blood brother bond that they have; they would do anything for each other just like Rafe and Ryder. Kind of makes me miss Ryan and Jade back home.

  “Hey,” Skeet says when he notices me.

  “Hi, so how was the celebrating? You know that Rafe is going to be pissed that you went and wet the baby’s heads without him.” I smirk at him.

  “Yep,” He says popping the ‘p’ “But what you are forgetting my dear, Lipsy, is that we get to do it all over again with Rafe. Win win, baby.” He pushes off the wall and comes to stand in front of me. He tucks a strand of hair behind my ear and kisses my forehead.

  “Leah, get some sleep. He is going to a bear with a very sore head in the morning. So be warned.” He kisses me again and leaves the apartment laughing. Bastard.

  I walk over to where Reeve is sleeping on the couch, snoring lightly, his perfect lips parted slightly. I remove his boots and cover him with the blanket. I kiss his forehead and walk to my room. Sliding back into bed, I stare out the window and think about everything that has happened since I came here. So much has changed. I am not quite sure whether it’s a good change or a bad change.

  The sun is beaming through the window, blinding me. I stretch my arms above my head and settle against the pillows. Everything from yesterday and last night comes to the front of my brain. Bugger. Reeve is still in the living room sleeping. I really hope he isn’t going to be a prick this morning. I get out of bed because one, I know that I can’t hide from Reeve all day and two, I really have to pee. I do my business and decide it’s now or never to face him. As I get closer to the kitchen, I smell coffee and bacon. Damn, Rafe must have come home to freshen up after spending the night with Lucy and the girls. Girls, I still can’t believe they had twin girls.

  I freeze when I walk into the kitchen and see it isn’t Rafe cooking breakfast, it’s Reeve. He is standing by the stove in just a pair of jeans; they are not too tight but not stupidly baggy either, perfect on that perfect arse of his. I have noticed that Reeve, Rafe and Ryder have the same arse, not that I would ever confess openly to looking but, bloody hell. Tight is not the word. He is shirtless and barefooted. Bollocks.

  “Morning, baby, like what you see?” He winks at me. Bugger, he caught me ogling him. I walk further into the kitchen. Reeve taps the counter close to him, “Come sit and talk to me.” My stomach knots, dreading what he will say to me.

  “I am making you a breakfast burrito, scrambled eggs, bacon and tomatoes and peppers. OJ is in the fridge or would you like a cup of tea?” I can’t help but stare at this man standing before me. He either does not remember last night or he is buttering me up after the way he treated me yesterday.

  “Orange juice please,” I say in a whisper. I am surprised that he heard me. I watch as he walks over to the fridge and picks up the orange juice, pouring me a glass. I feel like a creeper watching him move around the kitchen. He hands me the glass and kisses my cheek before turning back to the food.

  We say nothing for a long time, just sit and eat our breakfast. Our gazes meet a few times and he offers me a smile.

  “I am sorry for yesterday, Lipsy,” Reeve says after he has finished his burrito.

  “What are you sorry for, Reeve? I am totally lost as to where we stand right now,” I say keeping our eyes locked. I want him to look me in the eyes and tell me whatever he has to say.

  “For all of it, I was an asshole. I pushed you away because I had a shit ton of crap running around my head. The thought of being a father someday made my chest ache, ya know? I asked myself will I be the dad that my father was to us.” He takes a deep breath and continues “Baby, I am sorry I hurt you. I do want my own children one day, our children, well that is if you want children with me. I get that I fucked up again last night when I went and got smashed with the boys. I just needed to shut the thoughts out. I don’t remember much, but from the texts I woke up to this morning, I know that I need to apologize to you. I didn’t cheat on you, I do know
that much. I remember telling a few girls that I was taken. Fuck, I screwed up, didn’t I?”

  Bloody hell, what the hell do I say to that?

  “You did screw up, Reeve, I will tell you that. But I understand how you felt because I felt the same. I was going to talk to you when we went to bed last night but you cut and run, and that hurt badly. I thought I wasn’t enough for…” He jumps out of his seat and kneels before me.

  “Baby, I love you. You are good enough, fuck I am so damn sorry I made you feel like that. It hurts me knowing that I hurt you, that I put that doubt there. I am so sorry, Cariad.” Oh my heart. I now feel what Reeve feels when I speak Welsh. My heart swells from his words; I just hope that he stays true to his words.

  “I love you too, Reeve. I want to be enough for you. Please talk to me if you have doubts about us again, ok?” He nods and smiles his typical Phoenix smile at me.

  Bloody Phoenix boys smile.

  “You are coming to Max Point on Friday, right?”

  “Yeah, babe. I need to see my man on stage singing to me and watching all those women drool over you, knowing that you are coming home with me.” I wink at him.

  Chapter 19

  Reeve

  We arrive at Max Point and start setting our gear up; Rafe will be here later with Juicy. They are leaving the twins with Lucy’s parents. She won’t be doing much, just sitting there while everyone services her. Letty is sitting with my girl by the bar talking to Izzy and Jax. They are smiling and laughing at something that Izzy has said. She looks beautiful sitting there in the outfit she chose just to drive me fucking crazy. She is wearing a plaid skirt that sits mid-thigh with a tight white t-shirt that sits just below her tits, knee high socks and black ankle boots. Her hair is wavy again, which she knows I love, she has a headband on with a black flower on the side. She looks fucking adorable but sexy at the same time.

  We finishing setting up the stage and Ryder and I both join our girls at the bar, Leah senses me coming and she turns on her stool to face me. The most gorgeous smile crosses her face and I cannot help but return it with my own smile, the things this girl has done to me over the past few weeks is unbelievable. She has shown me that I am good enough for her. She loves me for fuck’s sake, which means something, right? I slide between my girl’s thighs and lean in to kiss her; I slide my tongue along her bottom lip and she opens for me. Our tongues dance together, sliding over each other, making my dick hard. I pull away and rest my forehead on her’s.

  “Damn, Lipsy. See what you do to me?” I ask, taking her hand and placing it over my raging hard-on, which is pressing against the denim material of my pants.

  “I like what I am doing to you, love. But we can’t do anything about that now. So why don’t you hold onto that thought and we will get back to it later, babe,” she says adding a little pressure to my rock hard dick.

  “My wicked, wicked Lipsy. You just wait, baby.”

  We all talk around the bar and wait for everyone to turn up. It doesn’t take long and all the crew is here. We all laugh and joke and Rafe is busy showing anyone and everyone pictures of Rowan and Lyric. I have to say that they are pretty beautiful, just like their mom. They have Juicy’s blue eyes but Rafe’s hair and skin color. I look around my family and friends and know that this is exactly where I want to be.

  Brax and Nix come out from the back room, making their way over to us and I know it’s about time we started our set.

  “Baby, I have to go and please the mass of women in the room,” I wink at my girl. She rolls her eyes and gives me her smart mouth,

  “Awe, baby you only need to please one woman and if you ever entertain the idea of pleasing another woman again, then I can safely say that you will be seeing my sexy arse disappear from your very eyes. You hear me, love?” She winks at me and shoos me away. “Go do your thing.” I give her a hard quick kiss and follow my brothers to the stage.

  I join my brothers on the stage and remove my leather jacket, revealing my plain black tee underneath. I turn and smile to my brothers and we prepare to kick off the night with a few cover songs.

  “Evening everyone. We are Inside Noise and we are going to rock your fucking world tonight. We are going to sing a few covers and then maybe if you are lucky, a few original tracks of ours. So let’s hit it brothers.” Ryder brings in the beat and we kick the night off with Simple Minds ‘Don’t You (Forget About Me) The ladies dance in front of the stage, swaying their hips in a seductive manner but they are doing nothing for me, not when my Lipsy is sitting at the bar sipping on her blue cocktail. We finish a few songs and I wink at my girl.

  “So, this is the part where the boys and I get a little hot and we share a little skin for you all but since I know that my girl would cut off my left nut if I did, I think that…”

  “Take it off, babe. But remember who is taking you home tonight!” Leah shouts from the bar. I can hear Rafe and Ryder chuckle behind me. Fuckers.

  “You want to share all this, Lipsy?” I ask her and she nods.

  “As long as all these women know who you belong to, love,” she states to the room. I see a few girls glaring at her but I know she can hold her own and besides, she has her girls at her side. I chuckle and wink at her.

  “I will always come home with you, baby.” A guy slides up next to her and whispers in her ear. She flinches away from him and looks towards me. “Hey fuckhead, don’t wiggle your maggot at Leah, she is taken, dude.” The room erupts into laughter and the guy turns an ugly angry red. He walks towards the stage and I brace myself for a fight, I feel my brother at my side in a split second.

  “You want to get into it you little bitch? Thinking you are all high and Godlike up there on that fucking stage, come and fight like a man you pussy.” He gestures towards me. Fucking dickhead. I jump off the stage and take a step forward but I don’t get close, I see nothing but this guy until a warm hand hits my chest and the smell of strawberry hits my senses. I look down and see my girl standing between us. I wrap my hands around her waist and go to pull her behind me but yet again Lipsy has other ideas.

  “Now you listen to me you little… well, big shit. This man behind me is more man you will ever be. So why don’t you get off your bloody high horse and get the hell out of here, so we can go back to enjoying the show. Shoo shoo.” I can’t believe my girl just shooed this six foot six guy. Fuck, I love this girl. I see that Brax and Nix have joined us. I feel proud to call all these guys family.

  “Let’s take a walk, yeah?” Brax says from my left.

  “Fuck this place anyway, the music is shit.” He turns to walk away but stops and turns back to us, “By the way, you are a little pussy man to let your woman to fight for you. If she was mine, I would have made damn sure that she shut her fucking mouth.”

  “Well thank God that she isn’t yours then. Her defending me makes me hot, turns me the fuck on and guess what, fucker? You were all over her but guess who she is going home with?” I smirk at him but Brax and Nix escort him out before he can kick off further.

  “Well, there is never a dull moment when the Phoenix boys are around,” Maisey says.

  “Ok, that part of the show is over, so let’s get back on stage and get this party started back up.”

  We finish our set and then we hit the back room to get our drink on and relax before heading home. Watching Lipsy dance with the girls minus Juicy, was hot as shit. Swaying her sexy slim hips, her skirt flaring out when she spun around, I am pretty damn sure that I saw a glimpse of her white lace panties. Damn. She was grinding on Letty and vice versa. I gave Ryder a look but he smiled, biting his lip and just watched our girls dance.

  I am sitting on the black leather couch in the back room, chatting with Ryder and watching Leah and Letty dancing together again. I take a long pull from my beer and tear my eyes away from my girl to scan the room. Everyone is here; they all turned up at some point during the night. Now this is what family is about, the togetherness and the love and loyalty. Beck and Brax are the only ones
not with someone tonight. Even Skeet and Quinn are getting closer, but I know from our little chats that he is still holding her at arm’s length because of his family, so fingers crossed they get through it. I heard from Ryder that Beck might be paying a visit to Texas very soon, to see Trinity. They need to sort their shit out and move on, they belong together and anyone can see that.

  I don’t catch what Lipsy and Letty do but whatever it is, it has Ryder diving out of the seat next to me and throwing a very giggly Letty over his shoulder.

  “Brothers I am out, I need my girl like you wouldn’t believe.” He winks at me and I smile at him.

  “What did they do, now?” I ask.

  He slaps Letty on the ass and she squeals but she answers, not him. “Leah squeezed my boobs together; she told me I have lush boobs.” She laughs from her upside down position.

  Damn, my girl is wicked. I am out of my seat in a flash and tossing Lipsy over my shoulder.