Swirl: The Complete Collection (BWWM Interracial Romance) (Books 1-3)

by Lexi Lewis

  It was like they had been together for longer than they had. Like they were together at all, really, and Eve was reminded of the fact that they hadn’t even had that conversation yet.

  She was definitely too tired to have it now. Maybe in the morning when there was breakfast and coffee and maybe more kissing or sex. Things that could keep all the worries from her mind for just a little bit longer.

  It was something she wanted, of course. To be officially with him so there was no confusion, and she could only hope that their current closeness meant he wanted it, too.

  “We definitely need to figure out a way to do this more often,” Reese was mumbling into her hair, reaching up to smother a yawn.

  That was definitely something she could get behind. “Mhm. We’ll figure it out. In the morning. After sleeping. Shhh.”

  He laughed and wrapped his arm tighter around her. With him so close and so comforting, Eve had no trouble relaxing enough to fall asleep. It was the easiest rest she had gotten since the week started, and not once did she wake up from some vivid dream where her father was hitting Devin and she couldn’t get to him or where Devin became some sort of pariah because she couldn’t buy him things.

  She wasn’t a failure that night, and even though she was unconscious, it was something she was very grateful for.

  In the morning, she was woken up by the sound of insistent buzzing on her night stand. It invaded the dream she was having about walking through a garden, making her think that there were bees in all the flowers, and she jolted awake, making a face as she did.

  “What?” she mumbled, rubbing a hand over her face before reaching over and picking up the phone. The number was unfamiliar and her heart clenched, but that was all the more reason to answer it.

  “Hello?” she said, voice raspy with sleep.

  “Eve?”

  “Yes?”

  “Oh, good. I’m sorry to wake you up at this hour, but there’s something of a problem.”

  Eve frowned. The voice wasn’t familiar. “I’m sorry, but who is this?”

  “Oh! God, I’m an idiot. Sorry. It’s just been an eventful morning already, so. Anyway. This is Katherine Davis. Your brother Devin is here for a sleepover with my son?”

  Recognition and something that was probably dread flooded through her, and she managed to displace Reese’s arm enough to sit up. “Right. Of course. What’s the problem? Is Devin okay?” Somehow she knew he wasn’t even before she asked. She wouldn’t be on the phone with some woman she’d never even met properly at—she checked the clock—eight fourteen in the morning if he was completely fine.

  “Well, he’s fine, I think. There was just an…altercation. Apparently it started last night when a couple of the other boys played some kind of prank. It was after my husband and I went to bed, of course,” she said, sounding like she was ready to prove this wasn’t her fault. Eve wasn’t buying it, but she also didn’t care.

  “A prank,” Eve said flatly.

  “Yes. And this morning they’ve just been horrible. I think your brother might have bitten one of the other boys, I’m not sure.”

  Eve sighed and closed her eyes. “Right. Well. I’ll come get him, since it’s clearly a bad idea to leave him there for the rest of the day if this kind of thing is going on. Can you keep them from killing each other for at least half an hour?”

  “Of course I can,” Katherine replied, sounding offended.

  “Awesome. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

  She hung up without waiting for a response and then dropped her head into her hands, letting out a low groan. So much for that little break from dealing with stress. Eve had no doubts that if Devin had bitten someone then they deserved it, but she wasn’t going to burst into the house and start pointing fingers at ten year olds. That wouldn’t make anything better. But clearly something was going to have to be done about this.

  Devin had plenty of years of school ahead of him, though he would be going into middle school in the fall, so this couldn’t continue unchecked if she wanted him to be happy at school.

  “What’s going on?”

  Eve’s head snapped up and she looked at Reese who was struggling up into a sitting position, smothering a yawn with one hand. Just that quick she had forgotten about him and the calm he had created with his presence and the stuff they’d done the night before.

  “I have to go get Devin from the sleepover,” she said, getting out of the bed and going to her closet to get dressed. She could feel his appreciative gaze on her body, but there was no time to indulge that.

  “Did something happen?”

  “Yeah. Apparently he bit a kid or something because they played a prank on him last night. The mom didn’t say what kind of prank, but…”

  “But kids are horrible sometimes,” Reese filled in. He was getting good at that. “That sucks. Do you want me to come with you?”

  Eve froze in the act of pulling a pair of jeans on. No one had ever offered to help her handle things like this before. Her Aunt Michelle had been there for a while right at the beginning, but for the most part, she was doing this on her own. The fact that Reese even wanted to be involved was baffling, especially since they hadn’t really known each other all that long.

  But when she looked up at him, his eyes were sincere, and it was clear that he actually did want to help.

  “I…” Eve wondered what kind of message it would send if she turned up with him in the car. And then she wondered if she cared. The only thing she was really concerned about was how Devin would react, but honestly Eve needed the support just then. “If you wouldn’t mind, that would actually be pretty awesome.”

  He grinned and moved so that he could swing his legs over the side of the bed. “Then I’m there.”

  Twenty minutes later, they were both in the car, and Eve was driving to the Davis house, with her stomach in knots. Her hands were clenched on the steering wheel, knuckles nearly bloodless from how hard she was holding on.

  “Hey,” Reese said from beside her, reaching over to rest a hand on her shoulder. “Take a deep breath, okay? It’s probably going to be fine.”

  She didn’t know if she believed him, but Eve appreciated the gesture all the same. At the next stop light, she sucked in a deep lungful of air and then released it slowly, trying to calm down. She didn’t need Devin seeing her all freaked out anyway.

  When they got to the house, there weren’t any other cars in sight, and Eve had the sneaking suspicion that even though there were other boys involved in this, Devin was the only one going home. That made her angry. “You should stay here,” she said to Reese, and was out of the car before he could reply.

  She didn’t even have to knock on the door before it was being opened and Katherine and Devin were stepping out.

  Devin ran to her as soon as he saw her, clinging to her pant leg and crying softly.

  “Hey,” Eve said, smoothing a hand over his head. “You’re okay now. It’s okay.” She looked up at Katherine who was watching her warily. “I want to know what happened.”

  “I told you on the phone,” Katherine said. “There was an—”

  “Altercation. Yeah, I understand that part,” Eve interrupted, using the no-nonsense voice she had cultivated at work. “I want to know what this prank was and why there aren’t any other parents here getting their kids.”

  Katherine looked like she wasn’t going to tell her, but then she huffed. “From what I can tell two of the boys, not my son, of course, poured a glass of water over Devin’s sleeping bag to make it look like…” she trailed off, but Eve didn’t need her to finish to get the point. “And then this morning they pointed it out, and…well, it seemed harmless, but Devin supposedly bit Jamie and probably would have done the same thing to Alexander if we hadn’t stopped him.”

  Fury rose in Eve’s chest, and it took several tries before she could say something without it coming out in an angry rant. “I don’t see how you can say that a group of kids making fun of another one for som
ething he didn’t even do is harmless. I also don’t see why you think my brother is the problem here.”

  “He bit another child!” Katherine said, voice raised. “If that’s the sort of thing you teach him is alright, then…”

  “Excuse me? The only thing I’ve taught him is that he’s just as important and worthy of respect as anyone else, so if he felt like he wasn’t being respected in this house, which he clearly wasn’t, then I don’t blame him for retaliating. Bullying isn’t cute or harmless, Mrs. Davis. It’s a problem, and I suggest you learn that before you go around hosting a group of kids at your house for the weekend.”

  Before the other woman could say anything, Eve was leading Devin down the driveway back to the car.

  He had stopped crying it seemed, and was sniffling softly as he walked with her, being uncharacteristically quiet. “Are you okay?” Eve asked softly, stopping short before they got back to the car.

  Devin shrugged. “Guess so. Are you mad at me?”

  Eve sighed. “No, not really. I have told you a lot this past week about not reacting with violence, though, haven’t I?”

  He nodded and bit his lip. “Yeah. I didn’t mean to. They were all laughing at me, and then Jamie was ripping my sleeping bag!”

  The little brat. Eve just sighed again and ruffled Devin’s hair. “Jamie sounds like a little monster. It’s okay. I know you weren’t at fault here.” She hesitated. “I have a friend of mine in the car, is that okay? We were…having breakfast when Mrs. Davis called.”

  “A friend?” Devin asked, peering into the car. “Who is it?”

  “His name is Reese Abbot, and I met him at the hospital. He has a broken leg, so I was helping to make him better.”

  Devin chewed on his lip and then nodded, going over to the car and opening the door to the backseat to climb in.

  Eve chuckled and followed him, getting back in the car herself just in time to see Reese smile and turn around in the seat to see Devin.

  “Hi,” he said, giving a little wave. “I’m Reese.”

  “I know,” Devin said, waving back timidly. “My name is Devin. S’nice to meet you.”

  Reese grinned. “You’ve got great manners. It’s nice to meet you, too.”

  “How’d you break your leg?” Devin wanted to know.

  “I was snowboarding, and I got into an accident,” he explained.

  Devin’s eyes went wide as something seemed to register. “You were at the X-Games!”

  “How do you know that?” Eve asked, turning to look at him before starting up the car. Better not to give Katherine Davis any excuse to think they were lingering.

  “I watched it on TV at Mrs. Santiago’s place,” Devin said, barely glancing at her before turning his attention back to Reese. “You did a lot of flips.”

  Reese was positively beaming. “Yeah, I did. Do you like stuff like that, Devin?”

  He nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah! I wanna learn how to ride a bike like that. Mrs. Santiago said it’s dangerous, though.”

  “She’s right. I’ve gotten hurt a lot. You can’t do tricks and stuff like that until you really know what you’re doing, understand?”

  “Yeah. Are you Eve’s boyfriend?”

  They both froze at that question, and Reese’s eyes darted over to Eve as she drove. She was using the excuse of having to keep her eyes on the road to avoid looking back at him, but she knew her cheeks were flushed.

  “If she wants me to be,” Reese said after another moment of silence. “I like her a lot. Would that be okay?”

  Devin seemed to consider this. “Are you nice to her?”

  “I’m trying to be.”

  “Do you bring her flowers?”

  Reese laughed and glanced at her again. “I haven’t yet, but I definitely plan to. And chocolate and whatever else she likes.”

  “She likes chocolate that doesn’t have cherries in it,” Devin explained. “She thinks cherries are gross.”

  Eve’s face flushed harder, and she concentrated very hard on the road in front of her. Being talked about like she wasn’t even there was hardly her idea of a good time, but it seemed to bode well that Devin was okay with the idea of her having a boyfriend for the most part.

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” Reese said, sounding too amused.

  “Then it’s okay,” Devin decided. “Eve, what’s for breakfast?”

  Before she could answer that they would most likely be having oatmeal when they got back to the apartment, Reese chimed in with “McDonald’s. My treat.”

  “You don’t have to do that,” Eve murmured to him. She wasn’t sure how she felt about letting him pay for things. It set a weird precedent that she didn’t really want to encourage, but there was something about the way Devin’s eyes lit up at the prospect of a treat that made her reluctant to turn it down.

  He shrugged. “I don’t have to do a lot of things. I want to do this. Please let me?”

  There was just earnest want in his eyes, and it made Eve smile to see it, so she nodded. “McDonald’s it is.” Devin’s whoops of joy made an excellent soundtrack as they headed in that direction.

  CHAPTER 5: HITTING THE FAN

  It was kind of amazing what a good weekend could do for the mood, Reese mused as he washed dishes in his parents’ kitchen on Monday night. He’d spent all of Sunday and the earlier part of that day in good spirits, helping out around the house as much as he could and just letting himself not wallow for a change.

  If someone had’ve told him that he would have enjoyed hanging out with his girlfriend and her little brother so much, he would have called them an idiot. But there it was.

  Saturday had been such a good day once they’d gone and gotten Devin from his friend’s house. He’d gotten to know the little boy and managed to impress him with some stories of his competitions and exhibitions as well as some videos from various things he’d done.

  Eve had seemed grateful for the distraction, and by the time they were having dinner, everyone was in in a much better mood than they’d started the day in. He’d even managed to get a confirmation that yes, Eve would be delighted to be his girlfriend while Devin had been in the bath.

  Paul had been outside at that point, waiting for him, so they’d shared a quick kiss, and Reese had promised it wouldn’t be weeks before they saw each other in person again before heading off.

  It had been a couple of days since then, but the glow of happiness hadn’t faded one bit. His parents had noticed; even Paul had noticed, though only Paul knew the real reason. His agent and friend had just rolled his eyes and teased him for the entire drive back to Reese’s parents’ house.

  The house was quiet but for Reese’s humming as he worked and the occasional noise from down the hall where his father was working in his office. It was peaceful, and for the first time since he’d been injured, Reese was somewhat glad for the break from the hectic nature of his job and life. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been able to just…slow down and enjoy things.

  The memory of Eve’s body moving against his made him grin. There were definitely a lot of things he wanted to enjoy along that line of thinking, but he pushed the thoughts away. There’d be plenty of time for that later, after all.

  The sound of the front door opening, alerted him to his mother’s presence, and he frowned when the clock on the oven told him it was closing in on eight at night. It was hardly anything new, his mother working insane hours, but that didn’t mean he had to like it. Still, he knew better than to say anything to her about it.

  “Hey, Mom,” he said, giving her a little smile. “There’s a plate for you in the microwave.”

  Carolyn smiled and dropped the pile of mail she was carrying onto the table. “Good, I’m starving. How was your day?” She moved to take off her coat and hung it in the closet in the living room, stretching before going back into the kitchen to heat up her dinner.

  “It was good. Relaxed mostly. Paul’s lining up a couple of interviews with the local stations
about my injury, so I thought about what I need to say for that.” Not that he was looking forward to it at all.

  “Mm,” his mother replied, which was basically a noncommittal way of saying she didn’t approve without actually saying it.

  But Reese didn’t care. He was not about to get into an age old argument with his mother right now. Not when they were both seemingly in good moods. That happened so rarely. Usually one or both of them was in a mood, and that only led to snapping at each other and then his father coming in and wearily trying to smooth things over.

  With the way he had been feeling these last couple of days, Reese had no desire for any kind of conflict. He just wanted to enjoy this.

  He dried the last dish and put it away before drying off his hands and going wipe down the counters. He could hear the sounds of his mother gathering silverware and sitting at the table, and he smiled. It was so domestic, but in a way that it never had been when he’d lived here. Usually there was at least one argument going on back then, and once he’d turned eighteen, there was hardly a time when he and his mother weren’t screaming at each other. The fact that they were managing now made him pretty proud of them both.

  Reese was considering asking about her day when the sound of silverware clattering to the table made him look over his shoulder.