Before It's Too Late (Troubled Hearts Book 3)

by Savannah Brooks

  “Juush,” she garbled around her binky.

  “You want your juice?” He reached into the diaper bag and pulled out a sippy cup. Taylor squealed and reached for it with both hands. Leaning against the side of his leg, Taylor let her binky fall out, the strap keeping it from hitting the ground, and happily sucked the apple juice from her cup.

  Marleigh brushed a few loose, blonde strands of hair away from her eyes. “So, is he out there playing?” she asked, looking toward the group of guys playing football.

  Zach looked up. “Is who?”

  “Your boyfriend.”

  “Oh. Yeah. His name’s Cael. He’s the guy in the orange T-shirt.”

  “That’s your boyfriend? Wow. He’s a hottie. I’ve seen him out here before.”

  “He’s here just about every Sunday. All of them are.”

  “He’s dropped Taylor off a few mornings, hasn’t he?”

  “Yep.”

  “You been together long?”

  “Well. Yes and no.”

  “Let me guess. You’ve been friends forever but had an unexpected moment where you kissed and now you’re dating?”

  “Almost, but not quite. Cael’s been my best friend for years. After my sister’s accident—” Zach paused, pressing his lips together.

  Talking about Abbey wasn’t something he did often. Talking to other people at all wasn’t something he did in general, but he’d warmed up to Marleigh over the weeks. Every morning, when he’d drop Taylor off at the daycare, she’d been there with a warm smile and friendly conversation, and now that he thought about it, maybe she’d been a little flirtatious, but with the stress from his breakup with Megan and Abbey’s accident, he hadn’t noticed. Huh.

  A gentle hand landed on his shoulder and squeezed.

  Zach turned to glance at her, giving Marleigh a small smile. She smiled back.

  “After the accident, my mom said something to me that got me thinking and looking at him differently.”

  Zach leaned back against the bench, turning to watch Cael and the guys. Cael was looking in their direction, but quickly returned his attention back to the game when one of the guys hollered at him. Marleigh dropped her hand from his shoulder.

  “It was a dawning realization over a few weeks. Then, one evening, we were just going to hang out, kid-free, so I could burn off some stress, and he kissed me. Now, we’re together.”

  “That’s sweet, and probably explains why you’ve seemed happier the past few weeks.”

  Zach grinned, blushing a little. “Yeah, that’s all him.”

  “Well, I better get going. I hope things stay happy between you two, and I hope your sister wakes up soon. If you ever need someone to talk to, I’m always happy to listen.” Marleigh hopped to her feet like it was nothing.

  “Thanks, Marleigh. I’ll see you in the morning when I drop Taylor off.”

  “I’ll be there. Bye Taylor.”

  Taylor looked up and smiled behind her binky. Marleigh took off in a brisk walk. With Taylor still content and playing with her toys, Zach went back to watching Cael and the guys.

  “Dog-gy!”

  “You see a doggy, Tay-tay?” Zach asked, glancing around.

  Behind them, a couple of women were running side-by-side, one of them holding the leash of a golden retriever. Taylor pushed to her feet and began a clumsy run across the grass toward the dog. Zach jumped up and scooped her up from behind.

  “Hey, stinker. Where do you think you’re going?”

  Taylor squealed and laughed as Zach swung her around, her little orange and blue Broncos T-shirt riding up a little, enough to see her diaper poking out from beneath the elastic waist of her jeans.

  “Air-pane!”

  Zach complied with her request, situating her in his arms so he could fly her around. He circled and dipped and pretended like she was going to crash, and Taylor giggled the entire time.

  “Okay, time to land,” he said, bringing her to rest on the grass near her toys.

  Zach settled back onto the bench. Taylor grabbed her pink puppy and stood, setting it on the bench beside him, then attempted to climb onto it.

  “Up,” Taylor said.

  Zach lifted her and sat her next to him. Taylor cuddled her puppy against her and settled back as if she were watching the guys play too. It didn’t last long. Within a few seconds, Taylor climbed down off the bench and stood, looking toward the guys with big, bright eyes. God, she looked so much like her mom.

  Zach’s phone chirped. He pulled it from his pocket and checked the screen, finding a text from Chloe.

  “Cael!” Taylor squealed. “Ball!”

  Forgetting the text, Zach looked up just as Taylor darted toward the football lying in the grass. Cael saw her running toward it and slowed to a walk, allowing Taylor to reach the ball before him.

  “Hey, munchkin,” he said. “You gonna get the ball for me?”

  Taylor bent over and picked up the regulation size football with both hands then turned toward Zach and ran, even if she was still a bit uncoordinated. Zach took a quick video, capturing most of the fucking adorable moment on his phone.

  “Oh, that’s it. I’m gonna get you now,” Cael said, chasing after her very slowly. “Get back here with my ball.”

  His light-hearted taunting made Taylor giggle, and when Cael caught her and grabbed her up, she dropped the football and squealed and laughed even more, especially when he started his assault of tickle-kisses, as he called them.

  Cael eased up on Taylor, and she quieted, breathing hard with a big grin on her face. Zach stopped the video recording and pocketed his phone.

  “I take it you’re done for today?” Zach asked, picking up the ball from where it fell after Taylor had dropped it. Most of the guys had wandered off. A couple stood around in the middle of the small grass area, talking.

  Zach made his way back to the bench as Cael followed behind with Taylor in his arms. Zach set the football on the bench.

  “Yep. Take her?” Cael held Taylor toward Zach, and Zach took her. Cael grabbed his still half-full sports drink from the diaper bag. Twisting the cap off, he guzzled down what was left and wiped the sweat from his face with his shirt.

  “Good game? You seemed a little distracted here and there.” Zach stood Taylor on the bench, keeping one arm around her so she wouldn’t fall, and began packing up what few items he’d pulled out.

  “Oh, you noticed that, huh?”

  Zach twisted his lips into a knowing grin.

  Cael leaned over and kissed him. “I wasn’t the only one. Who was that woman you were talking to?”

  “Just Marleigh, from Taylor’s daycare.”

  Cael hiked a brow, slinging the diaper bag over his shoulder and picking up the football. He looked toward the field. “Hey, Joshy!”

  Josh turned his attention toward Cael.

  “Catch!” Cael threw the ball.

  Josh caught it. “Thanks. Hey, see you at work tomorrow, yeah?”

  “Absolutely!” Cael spun back to face Zach and Taylor. “So, just Marleigh?”

  “Yeah, why?”

  Cael reached for Zach’s free hand and held it as they walked toward the car. “She seemed awfully close for just Marleigh?”

  “She’s just a friend, sorta, I guess. We talk for a little almost every morning when I drop Taylor off.” Zach huffed a quiet laugh.

  “What?”

  “Would you believe she was actually going to ask me out?”

  “She was, huh?”

  “That’s what she told me. After I pointed out the fact that you and I were together.”

  “Would you have gone out with her if we weren’t together?”

  “Fu—shoot,” Zach said, and Cael chuckled. Zach nudged him lightly in the arm with his shoulder. “I don’t know. Maybe? I mean, she’s nice and obviously likes kids based on where she works, but I’m not really attracted to her.”

  Zach buckled Taylor in as Cael climbed into the front passenger seat. Settling into the driver�
��s side, Zach noticed Cael staring out the window, completely quiet.

  “Hey, man. You okay?”

  “Yeah.” Cael gave his head a subtle shake. “I’m good. Just need a long, hot shower.”

  Zach threw a couple glances at Cael as he pulled the car away from the curb and into traffic. “It’s more than that, isn’t it?”

  “Not really. Just, something one of the guys said earlier that bothered me. Kind of pissed me off, actually.”

  “Who? And what’d they say?” Zach glanced in the rearview mirror, catching sight of Taylor wide awake and observing the world around her, proud of himself for not cussing in front of her.

  “Greg.” Pause. “He said something about you that wasn’t true.”

  “Oh.”

  “I kinda got into it with him a little bit. Just having a hard time shaking it from my mind.”

  Zach gave him a sideways glance. “Defending my honor, Manning?” he smirked.

  “Shut up,” Cael scoffed, but he laughed too, which was exactly what Zach was going for.

  Chapter 16

  Cael stood beneath the hot spray with his head bent forward and eyes closed, hot water sluicing down his neck and back. His thoughts lingered on what Greg had said to him earlier and the harsh reality that quickly followed.

  “Hey, Manning. What’s up with that?” Greg said, jerking his head in Zach’s direction in between plays. “Thought he was with you?”

  Cael looked across the park. His gaze landed on his best friend sitting with a woman he didn’t recognize.

  “He is.”

  The woman placed a hand on Zach’s shoulder, saying something.

  “You sure your man’s not getting some extra action on the side?”

  Cael snapped at Greg. “Zach isn’t like that.”

  “I don’t know, man. He looks kind of cozy with that gorgeous blonde over there. You said it yourself, you’re the first guy he’s ever been with. Maybe going gay isn’t doing it for him.”

  Cael glared at him, but had no response.

  “Shut it, Greg,” Josh interjected. “Ignore him, Manning. He’s just trying to distract you and knock you off your game because he can’t play worth shit against you today.”

  “Whatever.” Cael lined up for the next play but couldn’t stop staring at Zach.

  One of the other guys snapped the ball and Marcus hollered, jolting Cael back into action, only he couldn’t get his mind set back on the game.

  When the play ended, Cael paced away from the group, fretting and angry at the same time. Josh came over and slung his arm around Cael’s neck, pulling him down a little.

  “You listen here, mate. Forget everything Greg said. That man over there loves you, yeah?”

  Cael nodded. “Yeah,” he answered, but heard the doubt in his own voice.

  “He does. Trust me. And that’s all that matters.”

  Josh’s little reassuring pep talk had settled his nerves for a bit, and Cael’d been able to burn off the unwelcome frustration during the rest of the game, but now, the thing that worried Cael replanted itself front and center in his mind.

  Cael knew Zach wouldn’t actually cheat on him, but that wasn’t what gnawed at him. It was the other part of what Greg had said coupled with what he’d seen that had popped his bubble, letting reality flood in and consume him.

  Zach had never been with a man before him, so when Cael saw a woman he didn’t know touching Zach, not only had jealousy unfurled inside him, but also fear. The fear that Zach would come to the realization that he actually did need a woman, not a man, with whom to share his life and who could actually give him children and that family he’d always wanted. Cael had pushed the thought aside when he and Zach first became intimate, but now, it came roaring back, and this time, he wasn’t sure he could hide it, or that he should hide it.

  They’d promised not to keep any major secrets from each other, but was this really that major, or was it just Cael’s imagination torturing him, making him see things that weren’t there, and never would be.

  Cael stood in the shower until the water ran cold. After quickly drying off, he pulled on a clean T-shirt and jeans, then headed into the kitchen.

  Zach looked up from the slices of sourdough bread he was buttering and smiled warmly. “Feel better?”

  “A little,” Cael answered, coming around the edge of the counter. He pressed a short kiss to Zach’s lips and stepped away toward the fridge. “What’s for lunch? I assume that’s what you’re making.”

  “Grilled cheese and tomato bisque.”

  Cael grabbed a beer and popped the top. “Mmm. Simple, and yet so very delicious. Can’t wait. I’m starving.”

  “Simple I can do.”

  Cael took a swig and moved in behind Zach, barely pressing against his back. Resting his chin on Zach’s shoulder, Cael watched thoughtfully as he finished buttering the six slices of sourdough, wondering if he should get the issue off his chest and out of his mind now or wait until another time. He opted for the first.

  “I need to talk to you about something,” Cael said.

  “Okay.”

  “We’ve been together as a couple now for a few weeks…”

  “Yeah.”

  “Do you want us to stay like this?”

  Zach froze. He set the butter knife on the plastic cutting board and spun around, looking up at Cael. A crease marred the space between his wrinkled brows. “Yes.”

  It was a hoarse whisper and almost a question.

  “Pook, if you don’t, I’ll understand. We can always go back to just friends.”

  Zach stared at him, his eyes focused, his expression impassive. “I don’t want to go back to just friends, but—”

  “But what?”

  “It sounds like maybe you do, like being in a fucking relationship isn’t what you want after all.”

  “What? No!”

  “Then what the fuck is it? Why were you so quick to offer that?”

  “I just… I want you to know that just because we’re best friends too doesn’t mean you have an obligation to stay intimate with me if it’s not what you want.”

  “What gave you any impression that being with you isn’t what I want? And for fuck’s sake, Manning, you had better not tell me it’s because I’m new to the whole gay sex thing or some shit like that.”

  Zach’s concerned tone bordered on frustration and anger.

  Cael tried to keep the emotion out of his voice and play it off as if it was no big deal. “You didn’t push that woman’s hand away when she touched you at the park. It made me—”

  “Jealous?” Zach derided, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back against the counter. He set his hard gaze on Cael.

  “No,” he retorted. “Just seeing you with her made me realize that I may not be enough or right for you is all.”

  Zach pinned him with a scrutinizing glare. “You’re kidding, right?”

  Cael took several steps backward until his back bumped into the fridge, putting a little distance between them. He shrugged his shoulders and wrinkled his forehead, giving Zach a scrunched, tilted frown.

  “Fucking hell, Manning.” Zach’s expression softened. He huffed a small laugh and rolled his eyes, giving his head a slight shake. “And I thought you were adorable in protector mode, but I have to say, seeing you fucking jealous and worried over me takes it to a whole new level.”

  “Shut up,” Cael snapped, but the smile teasing his lips gave him away.

  “Get your ass back over here.”

  “Why?” Cael asked, his feet already carrying him back to the man he’d never deny anything, no matter what he asked.

  The moment he was within arm’s reach, Zach reached out, grabbed a fistful of Cael’s shirt, and tugged him closer. “So I can demonstrate why you have nothing to be fucking worried or jealous about.”

  With his hand gripping the back of Cael’s neck, Zach pulled his head down until their lips met in a soft press. Zach’s warm lips gently caressing his ea
sed Cael’s fears. Zach ran his tongue along the seam of Cael’s lips, urging him to open. Cael parted his lips, letting Zach in, melting the moment Zach’s tongue brushed his. Pulling their bodies together, Zach kissed him with such tender passion and reverence Cael couldn’t stop the content sigh that escaped him.

  Zach eased back, panting softly, his lips a little redder and slightly swollen. He grabbed Cael’s hand and forced it against his hard erection, eliciting a quiet moan from Cael.

  “Do you feel that?” Zach whispered hoarsely. “No one but you has ever done that to me before with a fucking kiss.”

  “Never?”

  “Nope. Pretty fucking sad, huh?” Zach turned. He picked up the cutting board with the buttered bread and set it next to the stove. “I feel like I wasted almost ten years looking for the right woman to start a family with when the right man was next to me the entire time.”

  Zach set a large frying pan on the electric stove and turned on the burner. As it warmed, he crossed the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. He rummaged through the plastic drawer and pulled out the deli-sliced packages of American and pepper Jack cheese. As he straightened, Zach caught Cael’s contemplating gaze.

  “What?” Zach asked, raising both eyebrows, his grin widening.

  A smile formed on Cael’s lips, and he extended his hand toward Zach. “Come ‘ere.”

  Zach closed the fridge and went to Cael, taking his hand. With a strong tug, Cael pulled his best friend to him. He wrapped his other arm around Zach’s back, holding him tight, and kissed him with all the passion and warmth and love he had for this man.

  “I’m sorry,” Cael whispered.

  “Don’t be sorry,” Zach mumbled into their kiss. “Just move in with me.”

  Cael laughed against his lips. He pulled back. “Haven’t I already done that?”

  “Not officially.” Zach slipped out of Cael’s grip and continued making the grilled cheese sandwiches. “When’s your lease up?”

  “End of July. Need help?”

  “No, but will you check on Taylor?”

  Cael peered over the granite peninsula and beamed. Taylor was standing in her playpen, holding the top edge, dancing and singing—or at least attempting to sing—to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on the TV. So cute. “She’s good. Completely ignoring us.”