Delayed Call

by Toni Aleo

  She squeezed his hand, and he felt her staring at him. “You know, that kind of takes away some of my stress that you’d leave me for that life. Since that life really wasn’t in play anyway.”

  He shrugged. “You had nothing to worry about before you found that out, or now. It’s me and you, babe. Me and you.”

  They rode in silence, but he didn’t miss the smile on her sweet face. She had been so awesome at dinner. She’d joked with Wells and Jensen, fit in like family. Hell, even Wren liked her, and that made him feel good. In a way, he felt like he had their blessing. Not that he needed it, he did what he wanted, but it made him feel good to have it, nonetheless. Which surprised him. But then, a lot of things about himself surprised him lately. He was changing, and it felt right. It felt good. Though, it did scare the living shit out of him. It was good.

  He hoped.

  When they arrived at the club, it was packed for a Thursday night, but Wells said it was dead. If this packed club was dead, then obviously, Vaughn had been out of the club scene way too long. Either way, they had a blast from the moment they walked in. Brie was bouncing around like a little kid, dancing with Wells and Alex, no cares in the world. As he watched her, Vaughn couldn’t help the grin that played on his lips. She looked beautiful, and he swore he felt it in his bones.

  As they stood around the table, the music pumping and the drinks flowing, well, for Brie and Alex, Vaughn realized something.

  Pointing to Wren, he accused, “Hey, why you aren’t drinking?”

  Wren looked up from the water with lime she was drinking. “Because y’all can’t.”

  Brie looked around, a little guilty. “Shit, am I an asshole for drinking?”

  Vaughn shook his head. “No, and usually, she doesn’t care.”

  “Yeah, what’s going on?” Wells asked. “You always have a glass of wine in your hand, sometimes both hands, but you didn’t drink at Mom’s either.”

  Everyone looked at Wren, and her face scrunched up. “I’m trying to be nice, and I get treated like this? Nice, guys, real nice.”

  “Answer the question,” Vaughn said, his eyes burning into hers. “Is something going on?”

  She laughed nervously, he noted as she shook her head. “What the hell could be going on?”

  Wells eyed her. “Are you knocked up?”

  She burst out with laughter. “Please.”

  “No, are you?”

  “No, dumbass, I’m not,” she laughed, rolling her eyes. “I got superdrunk and woke up next to a dude I didn’t know, and it freaked me out. So I’m taking it easy.”

  She was lying. Through her fucking teeth. But when her eyes met his, Vaughn pressed his lips together, unsure if he should call her on it. But then he didn’t have to make that decision.

  “You’re lying,” Wells accused, and she rolled her eyes.

  “How?”

  “I know you, and you’ve woken up plenty of times next to different people you didn’t know well—family trait. It didn’t freak you out before, why did it now? What the hell is going on? Are you pregnant?” Wells yelled, and Alex’s eyes widened as Jensen watched, holding his breath.

  But Wren just got madder. “Am I married? No. So, no, I’m not pregnant. You guys know the deal. And, Wells, since you can’t get the money because you’re gay, it’s up to me to get it for us, and I’m not ruining that.”

  “Huh?” Vaughn asked, but Wren shook her head. “What are you talking about?”

  “It’s none of your business. Just leave me alone.” She turned around and walked away, toward the bar.

  “You guys, leave her alone,” Jensen said, watching her as she crossed the dance floor. “You’re being hard on her.”

  “Why don’t you grow some balls and tell her you love her, then?” Wells asked, and Jensen rolled his eyes.

  “Shut up, Wells. Live your life, I’ll live mine.”

  “Whatever,” he said as an exhale.

  “You like her?” Alex asked then, and Jensen shook his head.

  “Stay in your lane, guy,” he snapped, and Vaughn’s eyes widened.

  “Jenny, what the hell? Calm down.”

  “Whatever,” Jensen said, leaning on his elbows. “I’m worried about her, and she just keeps shutting down on us.”

  “Well, don’t take it out on the new guy,” Vaughn said, hooking his thumb toward Alex, who smiled a thanks. “We’ll figure it out. It’s okay.”

  Wells rolled his eyes, watching her at the bar. “She’s probably going through menopause or something.”

  “She’s only twenty-nine,” Jensen threw out and Vaughn shrugged.

  “What was she talking about?” Vaughn asked, and Wells shook his head.

  “Old man has our trust funds from Granddaddy. But since I’m gay and won’t stop being gay, as my father puts it, he is giving Wren all of the money if, by the time she’s thirty, she doesn’t have kids out of wedlock. It’s the dumbest thing in the world, but it is what it is. So she’s gonna get the money and split it with me.”

  “Oh, I didn’t know about that,” he said, and Jensen shook his head.

  “I didn’t either.”

  “’Cause it doesn’t matter. I don’t need the money. I had forgotten about it and blocked it out when he said I had to stop being gay. As if that could happen,” he said with a laugh, and Vaughn nodded. “But apparently, she hasn’t forgotten about it. But I don’t believe her.”

  “Neither do I,” Vaughn agreed.

  “Why would she lie to us? So if she isn’t pregnant, something else is wrong,” Jensen added, but Vaughn still thought she was knocked up.

  “I don’t know, she’s an asshole. Why don’t you go hook up with her? Maybe she hasn’t gotten any ass, and she’s angry about that.”

  Brie laughed as Wells grinned back to her. “I don’t think brothers are supposed to pimp out their sisters.”

  “When Wren is your sister, you pimp her out. She’s a brat.”

  “And you’re a jackass,” Wren called back as she came to the table, a Coke in her hands. “I’m drinking now. So leave me alone.” She took a long pull of it and then set it on the table. But when Vaughn grabbed it, her eyes widened as they met his.

  Bringing it to his nose, he knew there was no alcohol in it, but her eyes were pleading and he was torn. He didn’t know what to do, but one thing was for sure, she had some explaining to do. Setting the glass down, he slid it to her. “Making sure you aren’t lying.”

  Brie smacked his arm. “Leave her be.”

  Wrapping Brie up in his arms, he kissed her head. “Fine, I’ll mess with you.”

  “Or you can dance with me.”

  “Ew, no, gross,” he teased, and she laughed as she smacked him again before hugging him tightly. When the music changed, though, Brie let him go, throwing her hands up as the Ed Sheeran song, “Shape of You,” started to blare through the club. She loved it. Like play on repeat, change her ringtone, and belt it out whenever it was on, loved it. It was really annoying.

  “This is my jam!” she yelled as she started to dance.

  And by dance, she was doing that weird pelvic thing she was fond of. She even did it in the car. “Brie, please, stop.”

  But she wasn’t listening. Laughing, Wells asked, “What is she doing?”

  “Humping the air?” Jensen asked, his brows pulled together as Vaughn sputtered with laughter.

  “Having a seizure?” Wren supplied, and that earned her a middle finger from Brie.

  “I’ve got mad moves. Come on, baby, dance with me,” she said, pulling Vaughn to the floor as she moved to the music. Her chin nodded with the beat, but he couldn’t help it, he was laughing. She turned in a circle, shaking her ass like a fool with the brightest and silliest grin on her face. When she started to sing to him, urging him to come to her, all he could do was smile back. His hands itched to touch her, so he took her by the hips, bringing her in as they moved together, his mouth gliding along her jaw and neck. She smelled like heaven and felt right a
gainst him as they danced, the music taking them out of the world they were in and into another. While he didn’t think the song was all that, it did remind him of her. Completely. As his hands slid down from her hips to her thighs, she moved into him, awakening his cock to the point he was fully hard by the time the song ended.

  Pulling away, she gazed up at him, her eyes wide and her face a bit pale before she held a finger up at him. He laughed. “You’re going to puke?”

  She nodded and started off the floor as he shook his head. He’d known it was coming.

  Heading off the floor, he moved toward his friends who were watching and probably talking about him.

  But he didn’t care.

  Reaching the table, Wells said, “Where’d she go?”

  “She had to puke.”

  That made everyone laugh, well, except for Alex. Vaughn was starting to wonder why the guy was still there. Holding his gaze, Wells leaned on the table, tapping Vaughn’s arm. “Marry that girl.”

  “Stop.”

  “No, she’s perfect for you.”

  “Stop,” he said once more, shaking his head. “We’ve been together a week or so, if that.”

  “But when you know, you know, dude. And you know.”

  “I don’t know shit, except I like all of her, and she can’t dance for shit.”

  “That’s the damn truth,” Wren laughed, but Jensen wasn’t laughing.

  “You love her,” Jensen supplied and Vaughn glared. “You’re just scared to admit it.”

  Vaughn held Jensen’s gaze. The words were there and he almost threw his friend under the bus about whom he loved, but he held it in. “I don’t know anything about that.”

  “Well, she does,” Wren said simply, and Vaughn looked over at her.

  “Huh?”

  “She’s in love with you.”

  “Oh, yeah,” Wells agreed. “Entirely smitten.”

  Vaughn scoffed. “No, she’s not.”

  “Yes, she is,” Jensen said with a smile, his eyes holding Vaughn’s. “You can tell by the way she looks at you.”

  “For sure. Like you’re a fucking legend or something,” Wells teased, and everyone snickered while Vaughn shook his head.

  “I know Brie. If she loved me, she’d tell me,” he said simply.

  “No,” Wren said, her eyes serious. “Because it would make you run.”

  His smile faltered as he held her gaze. “I would not.”

  “Yeah, you would,” Wells said, shaking his head, disappointment flooding his features. “You’re going to fuck that up, aren’t you?”

  “No, asshole. I’m not.”

  “Then get ready, because she loves you,” Jensen supplied, and Vaughn rolled his eyes just as Brie appeared beside him.

  “I am a party pooper and I apologize, but I just threw my life up in the bathroom. I’m not sure if it’s the alcohol, which I’m pretty good about holding down, or if it’s something I ate. Those tacos were suspect this afternoon.”

  Vaughn nodded as their gazes locked. “I told you not to eat them.”

  “They looked so good at the food truck,” she said sadly, burping before covering her mouth. “Ew, it doesn’t taste good coming back up, though.”

  Everyone groaned as Vaughn shook his head. “And now you have salmonella.”

  He snorted as Brie gagged. “Can we go?”

  With a shake of his head, he laughed, “Yeah, let’s go.”

  They said bye, and Vaughn couldn’t help but grin when Brie promised to come back. Wells had really taken to her, and that was good. Wells was a hard sell when it came to the girls they brought around. He’d hated Hazel with the depths of his soul, and when Jensen married that fucking cunt—Vaughn couldn’t even remember her name—Wells all but chased her off. Wren even helped.

  Hmm. Wren.

  He wasn’t sure what was up with her, but he suspected it was something huge if she was going through all that to hide it. He’d figure it out and he’d help her, but first, he had to get his either drunk or poisoned or both girlfriend back to the hotel.

  Once in the car and buckling his seat belt, he looked over at where Brie was hurling her guts up beside his car. Rolling the window down, he asked, “Want me to hold your hair?”

  “Don’t. It’s a massacre over here.” She grimaced as she looked down at her feet. “Oh, there are the tacos.”

  “Gross.”

  “I’m dying.”

  He nodded. “You’ll live.”

  “You only care ’cause you want to get laid.”

  “Duh.”

  When she paused from heaving, she smiled. “I’m puking. Can you not make me laugh right now?”

  “Sorry, it’s not in my makeup not to crack a joke.”

  She went to say something, but then she was puking again. Shaking his head, he paused. “You aren’t pregnant, are you?”

  Her head popped up, her eyes wide and confused. “Are you insane?”

  “Just saying. I mean, I wouldn’t put it past my cock. It’s a thing of God, I tell you. I mean, it could get past condoms, birth control pills, whatever, to get its seed to the goal.”

  When he looked up, she had a blank look on her face. “No. I’m not pregnant.”

  He shrugged. “Okay, food poisoning it is.”

  Opening the door, she burped once more. “I think I’m done.”

  “Oh, good.”

  Getting in, she shut the door as she let out a long breath. “Wait, do you wanna have kids?”

  He looked over at her. “With you? I guess you’ll do.” She glared, and he smiled as he started the car. “I mean, yeah, one day.”

  “I find that odd.”

  “Why?” he laughed as he backed out of the spot they were in.

  “Considering you won’t sleep with me, yet you want to have kids with me? Sorry, I’m getting whiplash. It’s confusing, you’re confusing.”

  “I’ve been called way worse, by you, actually,” he supplied with a chuckle. “But I never said I wanted to have kids with you today. I said I wouldn’t be surprised if it happened. My cock, babe, it’s an anaconda.”

  “Please, don’t make me puke in the car from choking on your ego.” His laughter filled the car as they drove down the road. “Still, you’re weird.”

  “One of a kind.”

  “What even brought that up? That’s the last thing I would think is wrong with me. We’re safe. Plus, I wouldn’t want to have kids with someone who doesn’t want to sleep with me and doesn’t love me.”

  “I like you.”

  “Just fine?”

  “Just fine, baby,” he said with a wink, and she rolled her eyes.

  “I’m glad I’m not insecure ’cause you could fuck a girl up.”

  He nodded. “Only the strong survive with me.”

  She snorted. “Yeah, for real.”

  They rode in silence for a moment, and then he found himself asking, “You do want kids, though, right? Like down the road, with some cool dude, who may be hung like a legend?”

  Burping once more, she looked over at him, nodding her head. “Yeah. I would.”

  “Cool.”

  “We are insane.”

  “A bit.”

  “But really, what brought this out of left field?”

  “I think Wren is pregnant,” he admitted. “No, I don’t know by whom. And no, I don’t know why she is hiding it. But something is up.”

  “She was drinking.”

  “No, she wasn’t. I smelled her drink.”

  “So you lied for her?”

  “Yeah, I want her to come clean to me.”

  “Huh. I don’t know.”

  “I don’t either, but I’m worried.”

  When he felt her grinning at him, he looked over. “It’s sweet how much you care for all of them.”

  “They’re my family, and they all love you, for some reason.”

  “I’m amazing… Shit, pull over—” But before he could, she was rolling the window down and puking out the sid
e of the car. Laughing inside, he stopped the car as she lost her cookies out the window.

  “You okay?”

  “Dying.”

  Looking at her ass, he smiled. “So if I put my finger in your butt, you’d kick me?”

  “Vaughn,” she warned and he laughed.

  “Fine, you’re boring.”

  But she wasn’t, and as she held up her middle finger while she puked her soul out, he couldn’t wipe the grin off his face.

  She kept him on his toes.

  And he was loving every moment of it.

  When Brie’s phone rang, she let out a loud groan.

  She had spent most of the night throwing up, but when it finally subsided, she was dead to the world and fell asleep quickly. She wasn’t even sure when Vaughn had left, but she was tucked into the bed, a trash can by her head and a bottle of water on the nightstand with her phone. She didn’t take him for the kind of guy who held back a girl’s hair. But then, she didn’t take him for much, and he continually blew her away.

  Reaching for her phone, she groaned some more. That was, until she saw who it was.

  Sitting up, her heart dropped to her stomach as she hit accept. “Dawn?”

  “Brie, okay, I’m sorry, so sorry, but this is the first time I could call you. I just jumped into action.”

  Her heart slammed into her chest as she tried to stay calm, “What’s wrong?”

  “We’re in the ambulance. I went to check on Rodney, and he was white and clammy, breathing, just not conscious.”

  “Oh, fuck.”

  She kicked the blankets off and fell face first off the bed as Dawn went on. “He’s breathing, but they aren’t sure what is wrong.”

  When the door opened, she looked up to see Vaughn, his eyes full of panic as he came to her, pulling her up off the floor and into his arms. “Can I talk to him?”

  “He’s weak, sweetheart. They are working on him.”

  “Okay,” she gasped, her eyes filling with tears. “What are they saying?”

  “What do you think is wrong?” she heard Dawn ask. Burying her face in Vaughn’s chest, Brie couldn’t hear very well, but then Dawn was back on the phone. “They think either a malfunction with the pacemaker or a clot is throwing it off. They are rushing now.”

  Brie crumpled in Vaughn’s arms, but he had her, sitting her on the edge of the bed before he rushed to her suitcase, throwing clothes at her before tossing everything else in her bag. “Get dressed.”