Always Us (The Jade Series #8)

by Everhart, Allie

  Sara and I ignore the guys and she tells me more about Alex’s family, while the guys talk about football. Of course. What else would they talk about?

  Our food arrives and we continue our separate conversations. During dinner, I notice Alex bringing out a jar of baby food and some finger foods for Caleb to eat. He feeds Caleb in between eating his own meal. It’s like Caleb is his own kid. Sara glances over at them now and then, but otherwise just keeps talking.

  It’s nice seeing Alex helping out with Caleb like that. It makes me think that maybe Alex might consider marrying Sara someday. I think she’d like that. I guess I don’t know. She’s never shared her opinion on marriage.

  We order dessert, and as we’re waiting for it, I decide we need to do this double date thing again. We all get along really well.

  “Dinner’s on me tonight,” Alex announces.

  “You don’t have to do that,” Garret says.

  “You guys really helped out Sara and Caleb and I want to show my appreciation. I tried to get her out of that apartment for months and she wouldn’t accept my help, but you finally convinced her to move, so I owe you.”

  “Thanks,” I tell him. “That’s really nice of you.”

  Caleb starts fussing and Sara nudges Alex. “Can you take him out of the high chair? He’s been in there too long.”

  Alex lifts him up and hands him to Sara. The three of them already look like a family. Sara and Alex look like they go together and Caleb could easily pass for Alex’s kid.

  Dessert arrives and halfway through eating it, I’m stuffed.

  “I can’t finish that.” I push my brownie sundae away.

  “Their desserts are huge,” Sara says. “We should’ve split one.” She holds Caleb up to Alex. “Could you take him? I need to wipe his sticky face.”

  He takes Caleb, whose chubby cheeks are covered in chocolate ice cream. As Sara’s cleaning up Caleb’s face, a guy stops by our table.

  “Sara,” he says, trying to get her attention.

  She looks up at the guy. Her expression is a mix of shock and panic.

  “Brandon. What are you doing here?”

  He nods toward the bar. “I’m getting a beer with Kyle. I came down to see him for a couple days.”

  “Okay. Well, have fun.” Her eyes shift down to the table.

  She seems really uncomfortable. Maybe she used to date this guy. He’s not much taller than Alex, maybe 5’10, but he’s much wider, with a muscular, stocky build. He’s got short, medium-brown hair and dark brown eyes and stubble along his face. He’s wearing khaki shorts and a bright green polo shirt that looks too tight on his arms.

  “So how’ve you been, Sara?” He directs his body toward her, crossing his arms over his chest.

  “You should get back to the bar.” She tosses her scrunched-up napkin on the table. “We were just leaving.”

  He peers down at Alex. “Aren’t you going to introduce me?”

  Sara glares at Brandon but he doesn’t notice. His eyes are still on Alex. She says really fast, “This is Alex and those are my friends, Jade and Garret.”

  Brandon points to Caleb, who’s still on Alex’s lap. “Is that our kid?”

  “Yes.” Sara takes Caleb and holds him against her chest.

  Holy crap! That’s Caleb’s dad? Sara never told me his name. She hardly ever talks about him.

  Before I even knew who this guy was, I could tell he was an ass, just by the way he came over here and acted like we should all stop what we’re doing and pay attention to him.

  “Let me see him,” Brandon says.

  Sara slowly turns Caleb around and sits him on her lap. “His name’s Caleb.”

  “Who came up with that stupid name?”

  I see both Garret and Alex tense up.

  “Obviously, I named him since you weren’t around for his birth.” Sara sounds pissed. Good for her.

  “You’re the one who wanted it. I gave you the money to take care of it.”

  “You need to leave,” Alex says to him.

  “Who are you? The new boyfriend?”

  “Brandon, just leave,” Sara says. “Go back to the bar.”

  He leans down in front of Alex, placing his palms on the table. “Are you trying to play dad to my kid?”

  Alex looks him in the eye. “You’re clearly not interested in the job.”

  Sara holds Alex’s arm. “Alex, just ignore him. He’ll go away.”

  “I’m not going anywhere,” Brandon says, a big smirk on his face.

  Alex keeps quiet. I can almost see the wheels spinning in his head as he tries to figure out what to do. Sara doesn’t want him to get in a fight, but Alex wants to stand up for her. And I’m sure he’d love to beat up Brandon for leaving Sara alone with a baby and no money. The problem is, Alex isn’t a fighter.

  “Just leave,” Alex says, staring at Brandon.

  “Make me, tough guy.”

  Even if Alex wanted to fight him, there’s no way he would win a fight with this guy. Brandon may not be much taller than Alex, but he’s way bigger.

  “You gonna just sit there, or are you gonna do something?” Brandon says, trying to provoke him.

  Alex doesn’t answer. He seems nervous, his eyes darting everywhere but at Brandon.

  “Alex.” Garret waits for Alex to look at him. “You mind if I step in?”

  “Go ahead.”

  Great. Just what I need. My husband getting into a fight.

  “Garret, don’t,” I say quietly to him.

  He gets out of the booth and stands next to Brandon. He looks like a giant next to Brandon. Garret’s a lot taller and he’s been working out constantly to get his shoulder back in shape, so he’s really muscular. Way bigger than when I met him.

  Garret holds his hand out. “Garret Kensington.”

  Brandon looks confused. He wasn’t expecting the handshake, but he shakes Garret’s hand. “Brandon Lintz.”

  “That’s lesson number one. When you’re introduced to someone, you look them in the eye, you shake their hand, you smile. Basic manners.”

  “What the hell does—”

  “Lesson number two.” Garret glances over at Sara. “Cover his ears.”

  “What?” Sara’s confused.

  “Cover Caleb’s ears.”

  She does, and Garret continues talking to Brandon. “Lesson number two. You treat the mother of your child with respect. I don’t give a shit if you don’t like her, don’t want to date her, don’t want to marry her. The woman gave birth to your child. By herself. With no support. And you’re going to treat her with respect.”

  “I didn’t even want the fucking kid. I told her to get rid of it.”

  Garret checks to make sure Caleb’s ears are still covered. “You think she didn’t deserve a say in that?”

  He waves his hand at Sara. “The bitch got her way. The kid’s right there.”

  “Already forgot lesson number two, huh? You’re clearly too fucking dumb to comprehend any more of my lessons, so we’re done for today. Now do as Sara asked, and Alex asked, and get the fuck out of here.”

  “I get it.” Brandon laughs. “You and Sara. Makes sense.” He looks at Alex. “I didn’t think she’d go out with that loser.”

  “Alex is her boyfriend. Not me. And before you open your mouth again to show us how fucking stupid you are, turn around and walk your ass out the door.”

  “I’m not leaving. I still got a full beer left at the bar.”

  Garret sighs. “I’m not going to say it again.”

  “I don’t give a fuck how many times you say it. I’m not leaving.”

  Caleb starts crying.

  “Get that thing to shut up,” Brandon says to Sara.

  Garret gets in Brandon’s face. “I didn’t want to hurt you, but what the hell? I love beating up assholes like you.”

  “Garret, no!” I scoot to the end of the booth. “You’ll get arrested again.”

  Brandon steps back. “You got arrested for fighting?�
�

  Garret slowly smiles. “Yeah. I did. Arrested and thrown in jail. For beating up an asshole just like you. The guy had no manners. Treated women like shit. I started punching him and I couldn’t stop. I have a bad temper and my rage just took over. I broke his nose, bruised every square inch of his body, and pounded his face in the wall so hard he went unconscious.”

  Brandon looks scared. Like seriously scared. He takes another step back. “And you only got jail time? You should be locked in prison for something like that.”

  Garret shrugs. “I’ve got friends in high places. And friends in places you’d never want to go, unless you had a death wish.”

  Brandon’s staring at Garret, breathing fast. I think I even see his forehead sweating. That story about Garret beating up Blake really freaked Brandon out. Hearing Garret describe it, it did sound pretty bad and yet that’s exactly what happened. Damn, my husband’s a real badass. Not that I like him beating people up, but Blake deserved it.

  “This is bullshit,” Brandon says, walking backward, away from Garret. “I’m outta here.”

  Garret watches him. “Hey. Before you go, I need you to apologize to Sara.”

  “For what?”

  “Breaking up with her when she got pregnant. Leaving her with nothing. Not paying child support. I could go on all day.”

  Brandon looks at Sara, then back at Garret. But he doesn’t apologize.

  Garret crosses his arms over his chest, which makes his biceps appear even bigger. He keeps his eyes on Brandon, giving him a look of warning.

  Brandon lets out an annoyed sigh and looks at Sara again. “I’m sorry, Sara.”

  Sara’s too speechless to answer.

  “See? That wasn’t so hard.” Garret nods toward the exit. “You can go now.”

  Brandon turns and walks out the door.

  A guy from the bar yells, “Brandon, where are you going?”

  Garret checks who it is, then sits back down in the booth. “You’ve gotta be kidding me.”

  “What?” I ask him.

  “Brandon’s friend is Kyle, the guy who keeps calling me, trying to get me to introduce him to my dad.”

  “Brandon used to be on the football team with Kyle,” Sara says. “They’re good friends.”

  “I knew I hated that guy.” Garret takes a drink of his water.

  “Did you really get arrested for fighting?” Alex asks Garret.

  “Yeah, but it was back in high school. I made it sound worse than it was.”

  I’m glad Garret didn’t tell him the truth. I don’t want Sara or Alex thinking Garret’s violent.

  The waitress stops by and drops off the check. “Did Brandon leave?”

  “Yeah. Why?” Sara says, as she rubs Caleb’s back. He’s falling asleep now.

  “I hate that guy. Last year he was always in here grabbing my ass and trying to get me to go out with him.” She shudders. “I was so happy when he left town. He didn’t move back here, did he?”

  “No, he’s in San Francisco now.”

  “They can have him.” She smiles. “You guys can pay whenever you want. No rush.”

  Alex drops some cash on the check. “It’s all set.”

  She picks up the money. “Thanks. Have a good night.”

  “We should go,” Alex says to Sara.

  “Yeah, I need to get Caleb to bed.” She reaches under the table for her purse.

  We all get out of the booth and Garret goes up to Alex. “Hey. Are we good? I didn’t mean to step in like that but—”

  “No, I’m glad you did. If you want to come over and watch a game when you guys get back from your trip, just let me know.”

  “You guys are watching a game?” Sara asks. “Why can’t us girls come over?”

  Alex kisses her cheek. “You can. I just didn’t think you’d want to watch the game.”

  “Jade and I could still come over. You want to, Jade?”

  “Sure. We’ll talk when I get back and figure it out.”

  “Have a good trip.” Sara gives me a hug. “See you guys later.”

  On the drive home, I say to Garret, “I can’t believe Caleb’s dad showed up tonight.”

  “I can’t believe Sara dated that guy.”

  “She doesn’t have good self-esteem so she puts up with stuff she shouldn’t.”

  He holds my hand. “If we have a daughter someday, we’re gonna make damn sure she feels good about herself so she doesn’t put up with guys like that.”

  “With you as her dad, every guy she dates is going to seem like a loser. She’ll never be able to go out with anyone.”

  “Good. Just the way I want it.”

  He’s not joking. If we have a daughter, no guy will ever be good enough for her.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  33

  GARRET

  When we get home from the restaurant I turn on the TV, and the horror movie Jade made me take her to last year for her birthday is on.

  “Jade, remember this one? It’s that shit movie you made us go to last year.”

  “Yeah, I didn’t like that one.” She sits on my lap and slips her sweater off. Then she reaches behind her back and unhooks her bra and tosses it on the floor.

  “Are we watching TV naked tonight?” My eyes go right to her breasts. It reminds me of Caleb staring at the waitress. Doesn’t matter what age we are, we can’t help ourselves. Our eyes just go there.

  “I’m not really in the mood for TV.”

  “I’m not either anymore.” I click the TV off. “So what brought this on?”

  “What do you mean?” She stands up and turns around, her ass facing me as she takes her jeans off, leaving her in just her black string bikinis.

  “You usually don’t want to have sex the second we get home.” I grab hold of her hips and pull her down on my lap.

  “I do tonight.” She reaches back and strokes my face, her fingers landing on my lips.

  “Any reason why?” I kiss each of her fingers as I cup her breast with my hand and slide my other hand down her stomach and under her bikinis.

  She arches back at my touch. “I just got really turned on watching you tonight.”

  “Watching me what?”

  “Take down Brandon. You were a total badass. I liked it.”

  “I was far worse in high school.”

  “I like this version better.” She grinds her ass into me as I touch her, her arched back displaying her breasts right under my face. Fucking hot.

  “We need to move to the bedroom,” I tell her.

  She smiles, tilting her head to the side. “But I like it right here.”

  “So do I.” I talk next to her ear. “But I’ve got too many clothes on for what I’d like to do to you.”

  “You’re such a bad boy.” She pushes off me and stands up.

  “You love it.” I swat her ass. “Now get in there.”

  We have sex a couple times before finally going to sleep. I didn’t know Jade would get so turned on by me yelling at Brandon. I thought she might get mad about it and we’d have to talk about it when we got home. But instead we had sex. Yeah, I love my wife.

  The next morning we get up early and head to the airport for our flight to Connecticut. I almost wish we weren’t going. This is our first Christmas as a married couple and I really wanted it to be special. But instead it’s going to be tense and uncomfortable because of Katherine. I know she has to be there for Lilly’s sake, but I still don’t want her around.

  We’ll also have to deal with my grandmother, who will be judging everything I do and say, and ignoring Jade. When I was there for the memorial, I thought my grandmother might be starting to change now that my grandfather is gone. She gave me a hug, a real hug, not one of her distant hugs. I took that as a sign she was changing. But then after that, she hardly talked to me. And when I left, she didn’t even call or stop by the house to say goodbye. So I don’t know what to expect at Christmas. I’m assuming she’ll be back to her old self.

  Ch
ristmas is a week from today and we’re not leaving until the following Monday, which means we have eight days with my family. That’d be great if it were just Lilly and my dad, but adding Katherine to the mix will make those eight days go by excruciatingly slow.

  The wheels of the plane touch down and Jade stirs a little in her seat. She’s been asleep the entire flight. She usually wakes up when the flight staff makes all those announcements about the plane preparing to land. This time she didn’t wake up, so I let her sleep until the plane comes to a stop.

  Her face is against my shoulder. I kiss her forehead. “Time to get up, sleepy girl.”

  “Are we almost there?” she mumbles.

  “We just landed.”

  She sits up. “But I just fell asleep.”

  “You fell asleep hours ago.” I unfasten my seatbelt and grab our carry-on bags.

  She hangs onto the back of my shirt as we exit the plane. She’s still groggy, yawning as we walk through the terminal.

  “Ready for a week with my family?” I ask her.

  She perks up. “Yeah, I can’t wait.”

  “You do know Katherine will be there, right?”

  She laughs and loops her arm in mine. “Yes, Garret. You’ve reminded me a million times and I told you, I’m not letting her ruin Christmas. I’ll just ignore her.”

  “Maybe we should’ve gone to Frank’s house.”

  “He wants to be with his girlfriend. He doesn’t want us hanging around.”

  Frank is still dating Karen and they’re spending the holiday together. It sounds like they’re getting pretty serious. He’ll probably marry Karen before Ryan marries Chloe.

  Ryan and Chloe are spending Christmas in Florida with her sister, who lives in Tampa. Her parents will be there, too. Then the day after Christmas, Ryan and Chloe are driving down to the Florida Keys for vacation. It’ll be the first time Ryan’s had a real vacation.

  “We could’ve stayed home,” I say to Jade. “Had our own Christmas. Just the two of us.”

  “Why are you acting like this? I thought you wanted to be here for Christmas.”

  “I do. I just don’t want our Christmas ruined by Katherine.”

  “We had a great Christmas last year even though she was there, so we’ll have a great one this year, too.”