“He should be fine,” Joey shrugged. “It’s his son after all.”
“It’s just hard,” I sighed as I moved to be closer to the counter and leaned my elbows on it.
“I can text you when he comes in here if you want.” Joey flipped another page. “He usually works out daily when he’s off. It’s usually in the next hour or so. He probably didn’t think about that when he came to get him this morning.” He snickered before standing up straight and tossing the papers behind himself. “Come on.” He reached for my hand and began pulling me toward the back of the gym.
“What are you doing?” I gasped as I stumbled after him.
“I need a spotter.” He rolled his eyes as he came to stop in front of one of the weight benches.
“I can’t spot you. Do you see these skinny arms? They can’t lift that.” I pointed to a bar that already had several weights stacked on each end.
“You can cheer me on then.” He winked before reaching behind his neck and pulling the gray McKay’s gym hoodie over his head. He tossed it on a nearby chair and straddled the bench.
I swallowed as I watched him lie down and position his hands on the bar. “Are you sure about this?” I mumbled. I’d seen Joey work out before, but he must have been hitting it pretty hard lately. His arms had bulges that hadn’t been there before. He chuckled before pushing upward and lifting the bar out of its resting spot.
I watched as it went up and down with him barely breaking a sweat. “You underestimate my drive. I’m willing to work for what I want.” He grunted as he placed the bar back in its place. He blew out a couple of breaths before sitting up. “When I want something, and I know it’s within my reach,” he grinned, “I’ll do just about anything.” He stood and wiped his forehead with a towel before circling behind me to get to another machine. When he passed by me his fingers grazed my back, causing goosebumps to rise on my arms.
“Are you cold?” he teased as his voice lowered. “I could help with that.” His breath feathered across my neck, and I stood up as if the chair was burning me.
“I’m fine,” I huffed as I turned so I was now facing him.
“You sure are.” He tipped his head to the side as he ran a palm down my arm, stopping at my elbow. “Gonna come over here now?” He nodded in the direction of the next machine. I sighed as I texted Angie. I wanted to know where in the hell she was and how much longer I was going to have to resist whatever this was. It was hard enough at my apartment last week, but this was so much worse.
“Don’t look so put out sweetie. You know you like watching me flex.” He laughed low and deep as he sat and pulled down on a bar that was suspended over him. His sides and back worked to lift the weights on the pulley, and I swallowed as I tried to ignore the throbbing that was building in my body. “Wanna try?” He licked his lips.
“I… I can’t,” I swallowed.
“Sure, you can.” He moved and motioned for me to come over to the bench. He’d helped me before, but this was different. I wasn’t trying to resist him back then. It was the other way around. He had been trying to stay away from me. Now the tables were turned, and I was the one who was trying to keep my distance. “Here.” He pulled the bar down and slowly released his hands once I had a good grip. “Now, slowly let it rise, and then pull back down.” His voice was barely a whisper, and I could feel the heat radiating off him.
“Like this?” I teased. I knew I was doing it right, but I couldn’t resist. I should have kept my mouth shut though because my teasing, as innocent as it was, was putting him over the edge.
“Fuck!” he hissed. “The next time cables are involved, they’ll be holding you in place.”
“Excuse me?” I released the bar, not thinking about what I was doing, and the weights came crashing down, clanking together. I jumped when they startled me and scooted away from him. “I’m sorry,” I gulped. “I shouldn’t have started this.”
“You didn’t.” He shrugged.
“Well, I’m sorry for whatever part I played.” I started backing away from him, and I saw his expression soften.
“Don’t push me away.” He slowly moved closer, approaching me like I was a wounded animal.
“I’m not.” I shook my head. He moved faster and was soon right in front of me. Before I could step back, his hands gripped my upper arms. “What are you doing?”
“Fighting,” he whispered as he leaned in and pressed his lips to mine. I froze completely at first. My head was telling me to push him away. I needed to figure things out, and I couldn’t do that with him kissing me. I needed to think, but my heart was already charging in his direction. It had fallen months ago, and despite the confusion that Carsen brought to the game, Joey had captured it first.
My lips parted as I let him in, and my hands fisted his t-shirt. He groaned as he hugged me closer and wrapped his arms tighter, caging me in. His tongue dueled with mine as his hands roamed over my back before making their way up to tangle in my hair.
“You don’t fight fair,” I gasped as I broke the kiss and pressed my forehead to his.
“I never said I would,” he panted. “I’m tired of waiting. I want you, Ally. I want you more than anything I’ve ever wanted. I’ll fight dirty if I have to. I’ll do whatever it takes to make you say yes.” His voice was barely audible, and if I hadn’t been so tuned in to him, I would have heard the door open and the footsteps of the people entering.
“What’s this?” His shocked and incredulous voice brought me out of my stupor. Carsen was standing there with Angie and Wes. He was holding Caleb in one arm and an ice cream cone in the other. Caleb was happily making a mess with his own cone as he smiled at me.
“It’s not what you think,” I mumbled.
“How do you know what I think? You told me you wanted space. Space to think, if I remember correctly. What exactly are you thinking about? Getting with my brother?” His voice remained steady but held little emotion. The sweet man that I’d spent time with was slowly slipping from my sight as the hardened NFL player who’d been tricked by the media and so many women emerged.
“I do need to…” I started to defend myself, but Joey put his arm up to silence me, and stepped in front of me to act as a shield.
“I did this, not her,” he growled. “If you want to be pissed at someone, be pissed at me.” He pointed to his chest. “I’m not going away without a fight. I love her! You, big brother, are in for a fight…one that I will win.”
“Pfft.” Carsen rolled his eyes. “I’m not afraid of you, little brother. I thought this was going to be a fair fight, but you wanna play dirty, fine; we’ll play dirty.”
My eyes pinged back and forth between the two of them several times before Caleb sensed the tension and began to fuss. “Give me my son.” I reached for him, but Carsen stepped back.
“You said I could spend the day with him,” he scowled at me.
“That was before.” I reached for him again and Caleb came willingly. I was his mom, after all, and he knew I’d protect him from whatever was transpiring. I motioned to Angie, and she nodded as she helped me gather his things to leave. Both Carsen and Joey watched as if they couldn’t believe I was walking away. “This—” I waved my free arm at them— “is bigger than the three of us. I have a son, and his needs come first. I’m not some damn prize for the two of you to fight over. When you figure that out, come find me.” With that, I turned and marched out the door more heartbroken than I’d been in a long time. How was I ever going to fix this mess?
Chapter 17
Alison
After leaving the gym, I was a mess. Angie ushered me into Wes’ car along with Caleb before she began texting furiously on her phone. “I’m fixing this,” she called over her shoulder as Wes jumped in and started the car.
“Angel,” he sighed as he looked over at her.
“No, this is my fault. I haven’t been there.” Her expression was worried, and I couldn’t help but sit there stunned.
“This is not your fault.” I
reached forward and tapped her shoulder. “This is my fault. I let it get this way.” I leaned back and closed my eyes as tears began to leak out and trickle down my cheeks.
“Momma sad.” Caleb twisted in my arms and placed a wet kiss on my cheek. It only made me cry harder. I didn’t know how to fix this. It was my fault, but until I knew what I wanted, it wasn’t going to get any better.
“Can you take me home?” I sniffed as I wiped at my cheeks.
“We’ll stop by your place, but you’re coming home with me.” Angie turned in her seat. “You need time away from those two, and they’re not going to give you that if you stay here.”
“Angel,” Wes tried to get her attention, but she wasn’t having it. She swatted at his hand to bat him away before turning farther around.
“You can stay in the guest room. Stay as long as you like. We have all the baby stuff you would need for Caleb. You can just use Riley’s things. You need this,” she pleaded.
I knew she was right, but I still had a hard time accepting it. “I don’t know, Ang.”
“I’m not taking no for an answer.” She glared at me.
“Angel!” Wes tried for a third time.
“NO!” Her head whipped around so fast that her hair slapped him. “You’re not telling me no here, Weston!” Her hand came up as she pointed a finger at him.
“Weston?” I snickered through the tears. I’d never heard her call him by his full name before and, based on the shocked look he was giving her, it didn’t happen very often.
“Fine, I surrender.” He shook his head as he turned the car into the parking lot of my building.
“Leave Caleb with me.” Angie held her arms out. “Go pack what you need.”
I quickly handed over my son who was happily oblivious to everything going on around him before exiting the car and rushing up the steps. When I entered my apartment, I rushed around like a tornado throwing things in a bag. I didn’t know if Joey or Carsen would come here looking for me, but I wanted to be long gone if they did.
After taking a final sweep of the room, I grabbed my coat and keys and rushed back out the door and down to Wes’s car. When I opened the back door, Caleb was safely buckled in Riley’s car seat, and it was then that I noticed her missing.
“Where’s your kid?” I pointed at the seat before looking at them.
Angie’s head shook slightly as Wes sighed.
“What? Where is she?” I narrowed my eyes on her, and Wes finally broke.
“She’s with my parents for the weekend. They offered to keep her so we could have the house to ourselves. We had just dropped her off before we came to the gym. I figured it would be easier for you guys to do a cake tasting without the kid.” He put the car in drive and began heading to the highway.
“Angie no. I can’t take your weekend alone away from you.” I shook my head at them as the tears slowly began coming back. I had been a terrible best friend for years, and here she was pretending like we were as close as we’d been growing up.
She scowled before turning to face me. “You are coming. You’re my best friend, Ally. I’d do anything for you, just like you’d do anything for me. You were there for me for so many of the hard times. Let me do this for you.”
“I’m sorry.” I directed my apology toward the one who was getting the short end of all of this: Wes.
“It’s ok,” he sighed as he continued to drive. “I’ve learned not to argue with her when she’s made up her mind. It’s pointless. You might as well accept the fact that she’s gonna do whatever she thinks she needs to do at this point.”
“Do they know where I’m gonna be?” I nibbled my lip as I stared out the window.
“No, and they won’t find out unless you tell them. We’re the only ones that’ll know.” Angie waved her hand between herself and Wes.
“I better tell my mom,” I mumbled as I pulled out my cell. When I glanced at the screen I saw several texts from both Carsen and Joey. I swiped past them and messaged my mom.
Spending time with Ang. Don’t worry. I’m fine. Please don’t tell anyone where I am. Will explain later. Love you.
After hitting send, I powered off my phone and tossed it in my purse. I did not intend to talk to either of the men in my life right now. I needed space, like I’d asked for, and now I was going to force them to give it to me.
It took about five minutes before Wes’ phone started ringing. Angie picked it up and hit ignore before tossing it on the seat between her and Wes. “Babe,” he groaned as it started ringing again, and she swiped it before he could. Ignore was hit again, and she growled at it.
“If either one of them calls again, I’m going to tell them something they don’t want to hear,” she snapped. Sure enough, the phone started ringing. “I’m sorry.” She smiled deviously at Wes before leaning as far away from him as possible and accepting the call. “Hello?” she chirped into the phone before she made a breathy sound. “Mmmm,” she moaned as Wes shook his head at her. “He… he can’t,” she panted. “He can’t talk right now. Oh god. Yes. Just like that,” she gasped and I couldn’t help laughing. I slapped my hand over my mouth to quiet the sound when she shook her head at me. “He’s…oh god… so good…Baby…like that.” She kept it up, and I wondered which brother was on the other end. “I’m gonna come. Shit!” she hissed before she grinned at the phone in her hand and disconnected the call. “There,” she smiled in satisfaction. “That should keep them busy for a while.”
“Ang,” I gasped when she tossed the phone back to the seat.
“What?” She eyed both Wes and me questioningly. “It’ll make them stop calling. Watch.” She pointed at the phone as she settled back in her seat. “Besides,” she giggled as she tapped his shoulder lightly. “I owed you that.”
“What?” I crinkled my forehead as I watched them.
“I’ll tell you later.” She rolled her eyes as Wes slowly shook his head at her.
I couldn’t help being a little jealous of them as I watched the smile on Wes’ face and the happiness radiate off Angie. Those two were meant for each other, and even though I was happy for them, I wanted that for myself.
“Hey Ang?” I leaned forward and tapped her arm. “What about the cake tasting?” I was actually looking forward to that, and now my drama was dragging us away.
“I just told her to go with chocolate. We both like it, and I’m needed other places at the moment.” She shrugged as if it was no big deal, and my heart squeezed even more. Here she was trying to plan her wedding to the man that she’s been in love with since she was twelve, and I’m ruining it. “Don’t you dare say you’re sorry,” she growled before she leaned against the window.
“I was going to say thank you, so thank you, and I’ll make it up to you,” I murmured as I too leaned back in the seat and let my eyes drift close.
ooooooooo
When I woke up the next morning, sunlight was streaming through the window. I stretched before checking on Caleb who was still fast asleep in the pack-and-play in the corner. I don’t know how he’d slept through the ruckus that happened last night, but he had. I yawned as the same noise that had kept me up late into the night started back up again. I didn’t know if they were going for a record or what, but I did know now how thin the walls in this place were.
I rolled my eyes as I tugged a sweatshirt over my head and quietly slipped from the room. When I passed by the door to the master bedroom, I tapped on it. “You know you’re not as quiet as you think you are,” I hissed before continuing downstairs. I needed coffee, and I needed it fast if I was going to keep from snapping at them.
A few minutes later, Angie emerged with a grin plastered on her face. “You’re pretty chipper this morning for not sleeping all night.” I smirked as I lifted my coffee mug to my lips.
“Mmm,” she giggled as she went about fixing her own cup.
“You know I could hear you, right?” I murmured. “Your poor kid is gonna get an education about how wonderful her father is long b
efore you’re ready for it.” I rolled my eyes.
“He is wonderful,” she grinned as she leaned against the counter. “He knows exactly how to…”
I lifted my hand. “I don’t want to know.”
“Yes, you do.” She smirked. “You used to bug me for details about the few kisses we’d shared back in the day. You know you wonder what it’s like.”
“No, I don’t. I don’t want to think about all that muscle and what it can do. I have enough to worry about without pictures of all that floating around in my head.” I waved toward the upstairs.
“Right.” She nodded as she nibbled her lip.
At that point, Wes came waltzing down with the same grin on his face. He was only wearing a pair of PJ pants, and when he passed by Angie, he kissed the top of her head.
“Ok, enough. You two are just too much,” I grumbled as I pushed past them and sat down at the bar.
“All those years you teased me,” Wes’s brows lifted. “Not so funny now, is it?”
“I don’t want to picture what I heard last night, and I sure as shit don’t want to know what has happened,” I waved my arm around, “in all these places around here.”
“Well, then I suggest you sit somewhere else. That spot was pretty hot if I remember correctly.” He smirked before grabbing a mug for himself and going about fixing his own cup.
“Eww!” I groaned. “So are you going to work on making another baby, or are we going to plan your wedding?” I sighed as I walked over to the table and gingerly lowered myself into a chair. “Is this safe,” I pointed at the seat.
“Maybe,” Angie shrugged before sitting down across from me. “I’ve finished just about everything except your dress, which I still have to pick up. I just figured we’d hang out and veg. Wes will be downstairs training for most of the day. I thought we’d hang here.” She looked around before continuing. “I haven’t gotten any more calls since yesterday, but I’m sure they’re going to start back up. We need to talk about what you want to do. I’ll help in any way that I can, but you need to think about where you want this to go. Do you want Carsen or Joey, or neither?”
Broken Pieces (The Broken Series Book 4) Page 13