by A. D. Ellis
**********
Lost in thought, he jerked in surprise when hands came around his eyes while he waited in line.
“Guess who!” A high-pitched voice echoed in his ears as a cloying scent enveloped him. He recognized the sickeningly sweet perfume, but couldn’t place which former fling it belonged to.
“I give up.” He reached up to remove the hands and turned to find a tall, buxom brunette standing next to him with a seductive smile. Shit, what’s her name? Brandy? Amberly? Madison?
“Hey, baby, long time no see. Are you here by yourself? I could be convinced to ditch my friends and join you for the evening if you’re interested.” The girl ran a finger down his arm.
Damn, he still couldn’t remember her name.
“Nah, I’m actually here with someone.” Should he add in a good to see you? It really wasn’t, but should he try to be polite?
The decision was made for him when the brunette’s eyes narrowed cattily.
He felt Jay next to him before he saw her. Turning, he wrapped an arm around her.
“Ah, here she is. We were just grabbing our popcorn before the movie starts. We better move up so we don’t lose our place.” He desperately wanted the girl to get the hint and leave.
“I’ve got a few minutes. I’d love to catch up on what you’ve been doing. I didn’t even know you were back in town. I thought you would have given Brandy a call.” She pouted her lip out.
Brandy. Yeah, that was it.
As Brandy flipped her hair, a gush of perfumed air blasted his face.
A slight moan slipped from Jay as she ran back towards the restroom.
“Who is that Kendrick? Are you offering pity dates these days? That girl is totally not your type.” Brandy sidled up beside him. The girl practically straddled his leg as he waited his turn.
Ignore her, ignore her, ignore her. His main thought was getting Jay her popcorn and making sure she was okay.
Paying for the large popcorn and caffeine-free drink, he maneuvered his purchases to the butter station. He pulled out his own brown paper bag, poured half the popcorn into it, drenched both bags with butter, tossed them around, then mixed them back together. Kendrick was nothing if not proficient with buttery popcorn.
“Seriously, Kendrick, is she your girlfriend? I never thought I’d see you slumming it like this.” Like a damn dog in heat, Brandy had yet to take a clue.
“You know what, Brandy, I’ve been in town since graduating from college. The fact that I’ve not contacted you should let you know that we had nothing worth contacting you about. Jay is my girlfriend, my friend, my partner, and she’s beautiful inside and out. She doesn’t have a judgmental bone in her body, she’s special, and she’s worth my time.” He turned from her quickly, not wanting to be any ruder than he’d already been.
Brandy’s gasp behind him was secondary to Jay’s look of surprise directly in front of him.
Those big doe eyes looked at him softly, curiously. She silently took the drink from him. Turning without a word, she led the way into the theater.
Picking the corner seat in the last row, Jay settled against the wall. Once the drink and popcorn were positioned, she turned her face to him.
Biting her lip, her face shadowed in the darkened theater, she bit back a smile.
“So, your girlfriend, huh?”
Damn, he didn’t realize she’d been behind him that long. “Yeah, I mean, well…if you’re okay with it. If not, that’s okay, she can think you’re my girlfriend.”
“I don’t know. Part of me wants to be totally okay with it, but the part of me that wants to be fair to you says I should call an end to this farce and let you go back to dating the types of girls you like. She’s obviously much more your type than I am. I feel bad that I’m limiting your social life with baggage that’s likely not even your responsibility.” She ducked her head, “But selfishly, I want to be your girlfriend. I’ve never been that before. It must be these damn hormones, but I want that so damn badly.”
“First, yes, I had a type before I met you, but I obviously wasn’t doing a great job with that type because none of them knocked me off my feet the way you did. Second, you’re not forcing any baggage on me or limiting my anything; biologically mine or not, this baby is mine just like you are.” He leaned in to kiss her, “Third, I think I love these hormones because they make you a bit sappy. I want you to be my girlfriend so badly too.” He kissed her again, “Fourth, where did you run off to?”
“Ugh, I think my morning sickness decided to pop up as evening sickness when I got a whiff of her perfume. I truly thought I was going to upchuck on her designer boots.” Jay cringed.
“I don’t like that you felt sick, but I would have laughed to see you vomit all over those damn boots. Who wears that to a movie theater? She looked like a hooker.” Kendrick shook his head.
“You used to like that look. Now you’re stuck with me in my vast and varied wardrobe choices, chopped, messy, colorful hair, and standoffish attitude. You sure you’re making the right choice?” Jay looked up, sincerely questioning him.
“Never more sure of anything in my life.” Sealing his decision with a kiss, he waved the bag of popcorn in front of her. “Still feeling sick, or does popcorn sound good?”
“Do you drink milk every chance you get?”
Confused, Kendrick answered, “Yeah…”
“Well then, there’s your answer. Of course popcorn sounds good.” She dug her hand into the bag and removed a large handful of buttery kernels.
They’d eaten their fill by the time the previews ended. Kendrick moved the drink to her right, lifted the arm rest between them, and pulled her close to him as the lights dimmed.
He’d never enjoyed a movie more than the ones he watched with Jay tucked under his arm.
**********
Therapy was going well. He hadn’t been able to completely erase the guilt, anger, hurt, and confusion, but he was making great strides. Having the baby, Jay, and work to concentrate on was helping too. Kyle had proved invaluable in helping him through the hard parts; the two men spent many an evening in the garage or at Kyle’s tattoo shop, beers in hand, just talking.
“Gotta tell you, man, if I didn’t know Izzy had no family other than her parents, I would seriously wonder if Jay was a long-lost relative. Izzy was always a force to be reckoned with when she was alive. After she died, she didn’t let up on Josie and me until we were together. Having Jay look so freakin’ much like Izzy leads me to believe it’s in the cards or fate or whatever you want to call it. I’m not saying it’s going to be easy, but there’s no way Jay can look so much like Izzy and it not be right.” Kyle had mused one day while they talked.
“Izzy did a great job getting you and Josie together, so I think I’d be lucky if she was leading Jay and me together.”
“Izzy was a spitfire. As much as I’m a black sheep and march to the beat of a different drummer, Izzy was even more so. My parents encouraged me to be myself, Izzy’s parents did not. Maybe that’s why she stuck out more than me, I don’t know. But if Izzy decided she wanted something to happen, she didn’t let up until she got her way.”
“It’s funny, I’ve never looked at you as a black sheep in the family. Maybe because we all have our own personalities and we’ve always been encouraged to be ourselves, but you’ve never stuck out as different to me.” Kendrick commented.
“Really? Pierced all over, ink covering over half my body, different hair color each week, none of that made me stand out to you?” Kyle laughed.
“Nah, you were just always Uncle Kyle. You are who you are. No one ever made a big deal of the differences, so I never thought about them. Besides, you’re pretty kick-ass, we used your name to threaten people at school quite a lot growing up.” Kendrick smirked at the memory.
“Ah, now I see. I hope you were at least using crazy Uncle Kyle against the bad guys.”
“Of course, of course, we were always crusaders for the good, supporters of the weak.�
�
**********
Kendrick was pleased Jay had agreed to lunch with his mom and aunts recently. They didn’t invite the grandmas that first time, didn’t want to overwhelm the girl. But another lunch was already planned and his own three grandmas, as well as Katie’s grandma, were all invited. Oh to be a fly on the wall that day.
He peeked into the bedroom to check on Jay. She’d had a rough lunch rush at work, so she decided on a nap before showering and heading to the guys’ house for their weekly cousin thing.
Glancing at the clock, he realized they still had a couple hours before they needed to shower and head over, so he shucked his pants and curled up behind her.
“Shhh, keep sleeping, I just want to hold you.” He whispered in her ear.
“Mmmm, I like when you hold me.” Her groggy answer warmed his heart.
He watched her for several moments, a shock of platinum blonde hair battled with a streak of inky black for position on her forehead. Long black lashes rested on porcelain cheeks. Pink lips parted slightly as she breathed deeply in her sleep. I love you.
How in the hell could he love her? He couldn’t. Could he? He knew nothing of her past, didn’t even know her whole name, yet his heart ached at the thought of losing her. If this wasn’t love, he didn’t know what it was. But he knew he’d damn sure never felt anything like it before. And he never wanted the feeling to end.
**********
Jay hiccupped through peals of laughter. “Oh my God, Kendrick, you were too much.”
Kendrick couldn’t help but smile as his cousins regaled her with stories of his childhood, and even some more recent tales.
His school days mischief, his high school shenanigans, his utter ridiculousness throughout college, the reaction he had when Sawyer announced he was gay, the sex toys he sent along with Zach and Zoey on their first out-of-town trip, his constant barrage of sexual innuendos involving food and animals.
“What can I say? I like to keep people on their toes.” He blushed slightly, but felt his heart swell to watch Jay laughing with his cousins.
“No wonder you didn’t even flinch that first night Tony and I met you in the bar.” Jay winked at him. “I would have loved to hear the conversation as it unfolded on that camping trip.” She referred to the camping trip where Sawyer had told them all he was gay.
“Damn, I’ve got to piss. Be right back.” He kissed Jay’s temple without thinking. Freezing he caught her eye with a questioning look.
She just smiled, “I’ll be here, learning all about you from those who know you best.”
“Kendrick has always been the outgoing, charismatic, larger-than-life one of the group…” Katie started as he left the room.
“Don’t forget brilliant, sexy, and most likely to bring on instantaneous orgasms.” Kendrick yelled from the hallway. “What?” He feigned innocence when they all groaned and rolled their eyes.
Katie waited until she heard the bathroom door close.
“As I was saying, Kendrick is all of that, but he’s also one to love with his whole heart, sacrifice for the good of others, and put his own feelings aside to protect his family.” Katie finished her thoughts. “You’ve brought something out in him we’ve never seen before, Jay. I’ve seen him vulnerable a couple times, recently when he shared about Sarah and the baby, and I saw another side of him when he stayed with me during the whole stalker debacle. But, I’ve never seen the interest, the sparkle, the determination in his eyes that I’m seeing now. About family, yes, about a girl, never.”
Jay blushed and smiled. “I hope we’re making the right decision, I hope I’m worth it.”
“Worth it? Worth what?” Kendrick returned to the room and looked around curiously.
“Worth the effort you’re putting in. Worth the sacrifice you’re making.” Jay sniffed, clearly embarrassed to be caught teary-eyed in front of mixed company.
“Every second, every minute, every hour of what we have so far has been worth it and so much more. Remember, Pixie, we don’t have to be perfect, don’t have to have everything completely figured out. We just have to stand strong together.” He put his arm around her and pulled her close to his side.
They lost themselves in the moment, and the other couples surrounding them seemed pulled into it as well.
Finally, a throat cleared, and the spell was broken.
“Something we’ve always prided ourselves on in this group is calling bullshit when we see it. We keep each other in line, on track, honest. If we see someone screwing up, we call them on it, we offer advice and support.” Decker was letting Jay know she was accepted into their group, allowing her to see a little bit of how the family worked.
“Yeah, it can cause a few heated arguments, but knowing these people have my back no matter what, it means the world and makes it easier to face the tough stuff.” Kendrick nodded.
“Like Kendrick stepping up, telling Decker he was being a complete douchebag when Katie had the stalker. Decker wasn’t ready to pull his head from his ass, so Kendrick took care of Katie until Decker was ready and able to take over the role again.” Zach grinned at Decker, clearly loving the fact that he got to point out the nearly-faultless man’s screw up.
“Like when Katie convinced me I was being an idiot thinking I couldn’t confide my secret in my brother, my cousins, my family. Yeah, there were a couple family members who needed more time to come around to the idea than others, but Katie had been telling me for years that I could trust my family to love me no matter what. I was a little slow on the uptake, but I finally listened to her.” Sawyer reached for Luke’s hand and smiled.
“Like all of us confronting Kendrick and convincing him to come back home and face his shit once and for all. Sometimes it’s hard, sometimes it hurts, but we are here for each other. Always.” Luke spoke then. As the newest honorary member of the crew, Jay seemed to brighten when he spoke of being a part of the group.
“Even when you want to scream, curse, punch someone in the face, when you stop and think about the fact you’ve got this whole family backing you, it’s a pretty damn good feeling.” Kendrick looked around at the members of the group.
“Okay, it’s time for dessert. Zoey, Jay, come help me please.” Katie popped up from the couch, likely sensing that Jay was ready for something a little less serious.
In the kitchen, the girls worked quietly plating up the Snickerdoodles Jay had brought.
“Jay, these cookies are so good.” Zoey popped one in her mouth. “Seriously, I could eat like fifteen of them.”
“Aww, thanks. The recipe is easy, let me know if you want it.” Jay smiled.
“Coffee, decaf tea, milk…think we need anything else?” Katie listed the drinks.
“You don’t have to do decaf tea for me, I can drink milk.” Jay protested.
“Nonsense, Kendrick brought a whole box of decaf tea just for you so you can have it anytime you’re here. Plus, we all know how Kendrick is with his milk, he may fight you for it.” Zoey laughed.
“That man should never have any calcium deficiencies that’s for sure.” Jay rolled her eyes.
“Hey, Jay…,” Katie spoke softly.
Jay stopped at the door, turning around with the plate of cookies in her hands.
“Yeah?”
“We’re all really happy to have you here. Kendrick is…well, he goes all out, full speed ahead. Which means he plays hard, and I think he’ll love hard. But I also think it means he’ll likely screw up hard as well. Be patient with him. He’s one of the best guys I’ve ever known, but he doesn’t always get things right.” Katie’s eyes glistened with tears.
“Yeah, we all screw up, but a guy like Kendrick doesn’t do anything half-assed, so he’s probably going to make plenty of mistakes. Don’t hesitate to put him in his place, call on the guys and us for back up, and kick his ass all the way across town if he messes up…but just know you guys are good together, his eyes are bright, almost on fire when he looks at you.” Zoey took the plate from Jay.
Placing it on the table, she pulled the tiny blonde into a hug. “Welcome to the crazy house, Jay.”
The three girls laughed. Katie joined the hug.
“Hey, I’m missing a hug fest, what the hell?” Aly popped her head into the kitchen.
“Get over here, we’re just welcoming Jay to the loony bin. Glad you got to come.” Zoey brought her best friend into the circle.
“Ugh, work was a bitch, but I didn’t want to miss the cousin thing. I brought your brother with me. He was at my house playing video games with Dad, so I let him tag along. I think he likes to feel like he’s part of the group even though he’s so much younger than most of the group.” Aly smiled at Jay. “Welcome to the family.”
The girls headed back to the living room.
Within minutes, the plate of cookies looked as though it had been demolished by hungry locusts, only a few crumbs remained.
“Damn, those cookies were good.” Sawyer savored his coffee. “You’ve got to share the recipe. I need Luke to make them for me.” He smiled at Luke and winked at Jay.
“They are super easy. It’s one of the recipes I wrote down from my grandma.” Jay glanced quickly at Kendrick before sipping her tea.
Reading her look as please don’t try to get me to talk about my family, Kendrick let the comment go. He took a final gulp of milk while making eye contact with her. He hoped his look conveyed fine, I won’t ask right now…but I’m going to keep at you until you break.
She must have read him loud and clear because she sighed and rolled her eyes before smiling slightly.
Aly had to leave early, wanting to get cleaned up from her shift at work. She took Asher with her so he could be home by his curfew.
The girls decided to chit chat in the living room while the boys headed to the garage.
Kissing the side of Jay’s head, Kendrick whispered, “About an hour then we’re out of here. I think we have bedroom things to take care of.” He winked.
“Bedroom things? Is that what we’re calling it these days?” Jay laughed.
“One hour. Be ready.” He tweaked her nose.