Caged (Bound by Cage Book 1)

by Brittany Crowley

  “I missed you too baby,” he looks back and forth between us, “what’s with the worried looks?” he walks to the couch and sits down with me still in his lap.

  I don’t really want to tell him about Luke, it’s embarrassing. But leave it to Ash to tell him the whole story starting with my relationship with him all the way until this past Friday night at the bar including when he was at the bar the week I met Zander. I notice him clenching and unclenching his fists and the tick in his jaw which indicates he is truly pissed the hell off. Putting me down on the couch he takes his phone out making a phone call to Josh asking him to come over to the house right away. Ashlyn gets an excited look in her eyes at the mention of him coming over.

  “What? Josh is coming over now?” she starts to fluff her hair and push her boobs up.

  “Don’t do that in front of Zander! Plus, you’re wearing a tee shirt there is literally nothing to see.”

  Josh arrives five minutes later and goes straight to Ashlyn planting a kiss on her cheek while pulling her into a hug. Their embrace seems extremely intimate making me feel uncomfortable just standing here like a voyeur so I pull Zander into the kitchen to give them a little privacy.

  I go over to the fridge and grab us each a soda. When I turn around Zander is right there. Grabbing my hips and placing me up on the counter he starts to devour my mouth. Hearing a throat clear Zander places a couple quick pecks to my lips as we turn to find Josh and Ash standing in the kitchen doorway with smirks on their faces. Zander declares it’s time to have a “family meeting” so we all sit down at the dining room table.

  He lays it all out there for Josh adding his idea about wanting me to move into his house with him as soon as possible, meaning today.

  Immediately grabbing Ashlyn’s arm Josh examines the bruise and then yells out, “That mother fucker! I am going to kill him!” he gets up and starts pacing the kitchen demanding his address.

  “Josh don’t fly at this situation unprepared. If he comes into the bar again, then you guys can do something about it and we won’t even give you any shit, we promise.”

  I think Ashlyn got through to them because Josh sits back down. Trying to convince them that I don’t need a body guard so the living arrangements should be fine right now, I also mention the self-defense classes I took.

  “Baby, we’re married now, are we supposed to live in two different houses? I want my wife under the same roof as me. Does that mean I can keep you safe? Fuck yes. But I want you to live with me, share my bed because I love you.” Knowing that this is a fight that I will lose, I give in. I slowly start to realize he’s right, the next logical step after marriage would be sharing a home. It guts me to think of leaving Ashlyn. We have lived together since I got this house when I turned 19, it’s always been the two of us and now that’s all about to change.

  I look over to Ash who looks as heartbroken as I feel but subtly nods her head yes. Tears form in my eyes at the thought of not living with her anymore, we have been through so much together. I look over to Zander and nod my head, not trusting myself not to break out into sobs if I try to speak.

  “Zander you are taking my best friend away from me without any notice and I’m going to have to be okay with that, but do not ever fucking hurt her or I will break your dick off and shove it so far up your ass you’ll be able to come in your mouth,” she lets out a loud sob and covers her face with her hands.

  Zander places his hand on her shoulder trying to comfort her. “I will never hurt her Ash her happiness is my main priority now. You know how much she means to me. You don’t need to worry about her I promise.”

  I start crying after hearing his admission. Apparently, the speech has the same effect on her as she begins blubbering like a baby too.

  Josh and Zander have a silent conversation with their eyes before they stand up and announce they’ll give us some time. “Baby, I’m going to start packing your room up,” they go to leave but Ash and I simultaneously start yelling at them to stop.

  I walk up to him hoping he agrees to what I have to say. “I’d really like one last night together as roommate’s babe. I know you don’t like the idea of us being by ourselves, but we need this. It’s just been Ash and I against the world for as long as I can remember. I want to move in with you but this is all moving so fast. When I left for Vegas a few days ago, I never thought I’d be coming back home a married woman and then immediately moving into another home. I want to live with you more than anything,” I look back towards Ash smiling with tears in my eyes, “but I need one last night of living under the same roof with my best friend. Most people date, get engaged then plan a wedding. Maybe move in together somewhere in the mix. We kind of jumped a few steps.”

  He leans down and kisses my cheek. “I am five minutes away, do not hesitate to call me. I will get everything ready for you to move in tomorrow, and make no mistake baby, you will be under my roof tomorrow.”

  We all say our goodbyes, then it’s just us waving to the guys at the front door while we hold each other.

  “I’ll go get my keys!” Ashlyn exclaims excitedly running for the kitchen.

  “What for?”

  “Bitch if we are going to get through a night of packing you up and saying our goodbyes we are going to need lots and lots of alcohol!” I nod in agreement as we jump in her car and head off to the nearest liquor store.

  When we get there, I grab a carriage knowing we’ll grab too much for us to carry through the store. We get all the ingredients for Strawberry Margaritas and White Russians, the latter being for me.

  We arrive home with lots of alcohol and Chinese food that we made a pit stop for on our way back. Taking our respective duties, Ash dishes out the food while I prepare the drinks making sure to add double the alcohol. After eating we head to my room to tackle packing while we both have our wits about us.

  When we were gone getting food and drinks Zander must have stopped by because we found boxes and packing tape on our front stairs outside the front door. I think he was trying to send me a message.

  “I can’t believe this is happening. I’m going to be the crazy cat lady who lives by herself while you live it up with your rich and famous husband. You’re such an asshole Sav!”

  “I KNOW! It’s not like I want to stop being your roommate! Can I talk you into moving with me?” we both burst out laughing not even close to being done packing all of my clothes.

  “I can be under the same roof as newlyweds? Fuck no. As much as it pains me to say it, you’re ready for this Sav. You’ve found your soul mate, it’s time for you to put on your big girl panties and grow up. I promise no matter how much I bitch and complain about it that I’ll be okay.”

  “Can I make a confession? When you guys went into the kitchen Josh kissed me,” I shoot her a look of disbelief. “I know, I know! It was literally the best first kiss, hell, the best any kiss ever! That boy knows how to use his tongue. Which makes me wonder how it would feel if he kissed my pus-”

  “Nope, stop right there! Josh is like a brother to me now and I don’t want to hear you daydreaming about his oral gifts. No fucking way Ash! Now you have me thinking about him going down on you! You know I’m a visual person for fucks sake!” I try to clear the image from my mind by pounding the rest of my drink.

  “I’m so happy for you though Ash. I want you to find what I have in Zander. You are the best person I know and all I want for you is to be happy. Look at us getting all sappy and shit. Alcohol always makes us crybabies.”

  “You always have been an emotional drinker. You got married the last time you drank for fucks sake. I’m still not completely sold on starting a relationship right now, I think I’m still going to give it time, form a friendship before we enter into anything serious. I’ve always gone head first into relationships without knowing the guy. I’m not making that mistake with Josh, he’s…different.”

  Leaving it at that, we decide we’ve packed enough for the night, meaning barely anything, and head to the couch f
or a marathon of Friends.

  Three episodes and four more drinks in, we are completely shitfaced. “You see that Sav? THEY WERE ON A FUCKING BREAK!! He thinks it’s all good just going around banging whores on a little tiny break. If he still fucking loved her he wouldn’t have fucked some floozy!”

  “I know right! Ross is such an asshole, even though he is secretly my favorite.”

  I take a swig of my drink then run and grab a cardboard box, throw it on my back and start waddling around. “I’m the Holiday Armadillo!”

  Spitting out the sip she just took it flies out all over the place as I fall backwards landing in the box with a thud. “Ouch,” I mumble as we both start laughing so hard we start to cry. Our crying turns into wails of despair as she runs over and jumps on the box with me crushing it between us and the floor even more.

  “Savvy, I am going to miss you so fucking much, do you have to leave me? We can run away and become nuns!”

  “I don’t think the sisterhood would want us Ash, they don’t really take people in like they do in the movies. I am going to miss you too, so freaking much! Who am I going to talk to when I have a bad day? Who is going to understand the pain of the monthly demon itself and bake me brownies? OMG! WHO AM I GOING TO DANCE IT OUT WITH??” I begin to bawl like a baby.

  “Firstly, I will always be here to talk to. We’re only going to be five minutes apart and we will still see each other every day at the bar. I will still make you your monthly brownies and Zander could never stop us from having our impromptu dance parties, they are sacred damn it!”

  We just sit there on that crushed box drunk out of our minds embracing each other. The next thing I know I hear a throat clear and I peek one eye open and immediately close it when it’s met by bright sun light.

  Sweet Jesus! Did a Mack truck run me over while I was sleeping? Every inch of me hurts. Realizing I fell asleep in Ashlyn’s arms on the floor I groan out loud emphasizing my pain trying to roll over onto the hard wood floor away from the box beneath us. Apparently, we’re holding each other together because when I roll Ashlyn follows and lands right on top of me.

  “Bitch, what the fuck?”

  Groaning a few times while trying to extract from each other we start to hear laughter. Looking in the direction of the noise we notice Zander, Josh, Jay and Kyle all standing near the front door trying not to burst out laughing. I drop my head to the floor; the ground can gladly swallow me whole right now. My head hurts too much to deal with this shit.

  Ash gets off of me with help from Josh then I’m being lifted into the air by Zander.

  “Whoa there buddy, stop all the movement!” I yell as my stomach starts to turn.

  “Sorry baby, how much did you guys drink last night?” he looks around and sees all of the empty liquor bottles. “Please tell me you didn’t need that much alcohol to convince yourself to live with me, my ego couldn’t take it.”

  I can’t help it, I start to laugh. “I needed that much alcohol to convince myself not to bring Ash with me.”

  He kisses me on the cheek and places me on the couch. “Okay so here’s the game plan. My house is fully furnished so we don’t need any of your furniture unless there is something here that means something to you. Décor is a different story because well, I’m a guy and I don’t care about that shit. So, any pictures or other girly shit that goes on the walls that will help make our house a home, pack those fuckers up. The boys are going to start with packing up your room seeing as you barely packed anything last night.”

  He leans down to my ear and whispers, “Is there anything incriminating you don’t want any of the boys seeing?”

  It’s like he knows me so well! I look at him shyly. “Maybe I should do a run through of my room really quick.” I jump up and practically fall over if it wasn’t for Zander catching me.

  “I’ll come with you baby,” he carries me to my room and puts me down on the bed. “Okay where are Savvy’s dirty little secrets?” he questions me rubbing his hands together.

  I cover my eyes with my hand and point to my nightstand with my other one, thoroughly embarrassed at what he is about to see. He opens the top drawer and his eyebrows raise in shock.

  “Now this I can work with Savvy. These are definitely coming into our bedroom.”

  He starts pulling out each vibrator and dildo one by one examining each. With an excited look on his face he pulls out a set of handcuffs and I immediately feel heat rise up my cheeks. The sex has been phenomenal with Zander, but I haven’t shared with him my extensive toy collection yet. We always sleep at his house if we’re together because he has a bigger, more comfortable bed. Not to mention no Ashlyn yelling through the door while we’re getting it on. It’s not that I’m a closet sex freak, well maybe I am, I just learned a lot about this stuff from Aunt Cheryl so I was more likely to experiment with things than most. Not to mention I have never been able to get off without the aid of one of my trusty toys until I experienced sex with Zander.

  “You know about my upbringing and the stories I have told you about my aunt, you can’t be that surprised. I didn’t need to bring them into our sex life because you’re the only guy that has ever been able get me off with just your cock. Would it freak you out if I told you I have fantasized about you using some of those on me… and me using some of them on you?” his eyes immediately widen in shock and surprise.

  “Baby, I will 100% be using these on you. The thought alone has me so fucking hard right now. But nothing will be going up my ass no matter how much you love it. But we can be…creative. Now that I know you’re into all of this,” he shakes his head as if trying to get an image out of it, “yeah these are definitely coming home with us.”

  After he is done boxing up the toys I make him throw my bras and panties in the same box, I don’t need his brothers seeing my unmentionables, especially Jayden. He personally brings that box to his truck as his brother’s start to help me pack my room. I don’t know how much help I’m really being, I’m moving at a snail’s pace, trying to pull myself together before Ash and I leave for work.

  Knowing that I’m in the way, I go to the desk in my bedroom and grab some sticky notes. Walking around the house I put a sticky note on all the things that I want to take with me making sure to take the things that Ashlyn could care less about.

  Before I know it, my whole life is packed into several cardboard boxes and I feel my eyes start to well up with more tears. I can’t believe this is really happening, this is no longer going to be my home. I walk out to the living room to find Ash and when our eyes meet she knows. Walking over to the iPod dock she puts on one of our favorites, Lady Gaga’s Born This Way, cranks it up and we start to dance. We dance all of our emotion out of us as we twirl and move around the living room. About halfway through the song we notice all the brothers watching us hesitantly from the hallway. Ash and I go over and grab Zander and Josh pulling them into the living room to dance with us. They bust out some dance moves surprising the hell out of us. I am so happy Zander doesn’t dance like a white boy, although I should have known he was a great dancer from the way he moves in the bedroom.

  Never one to miss having the attention on him, Jayden jumps up on the coffee table and starts to gyrate his hips back and forth like he’s Magic Mike. Everyone starts booing him until he jumps off of the table laughing. We all end up smooshed together on the couch.

  “I love our little family,” I say to everyone. I look over to the clock and realize its 11:15 and I groan.

  “Well boys it’s been a blast, but Ash and I have to head into work. Don’t hurt yourselves too much moving all of my shit.”

  I kiss Zander goodbye then head to work with Ash hoping everything goes smoothly with the move. God knows the trouble the four of them could get into.

  CHAPTER 18

  Getting back into the grind of things is just what I need to feel normal again. There were no paparazzi mobbing the place like Zander had expected, allowing us to open the bar without an issue.

&n
bsp; Talking and catching up with a couple of the regulars has me feeling at home. Most of them congratulate me on the marriage and I definitely catch most of them looking at my stomach when they don’t think I’m looking which annoys the hell out of me. Giving most of them a mean mug they quickly avert their gaze.

  I have noticed a steady increase of customers since we opened, way more than we usually have for the lunch rush. I’m assuming they’re not here for the soup of the day, but I won’t tell Ashlyn that. It seems like every male from the college up the street is now sitting in here, well, aside from the skanky hoes dressed in barely anything scattered in between. Are they that horrible that they are still going to try and get the attention of a newly married man? Whores.

  Halfway through my shift Zander sends me a text saying that everything is moved and asks if I want him to keep me company for a while. I tell him not to worry about it filling him in on the extra crowd. I don’t want him needing a body guard just to visit me at work. Dropping off a round of tequila shots for a couple of frat guys I notice a guy approach the bar. He just stands there staring at me like a stalker. I look right back at him and ask if I can get him a drink. Shaking his head, he hands me an envelope. Looking down at the envelope then back up at the guy I ask, “What the hell is that?”

  “Some dude paid me $20 to give this to you. See you later doll,” he turns around then makes his way to the front door and leaves. Weirdo.

  I open the envelope and pull out what appears to be a hand-written letter with my name on the outside and a picture. I open it up, read it and barely hold back the vomit that wants to escape my stomach. What the fuck? I fold it back up and place it in the envelope then tell Emily I’ll be right back. I head straight for the kitchen to see Ash. The second I get through the door she knows something is wrong. Sitting me on a stool I hand her the note.

  “This is seriously fucked up!” she exclaims.

  Inside the envelope was a note that reads:

  Look closely, things aren’t always as they appear to be.