400 First Kisses

by E. L. Todd

  “Cypress has taken care of me since Evan left. He babysits the girls when I’m overwhelmed, he comes out and takes care of the yardwork, brings groceries by when I don’t have time to do it myself…and he’s been there for me as a friend. He took your place because he knew how much it would have meant to you.”

  I bowed my head, touched by what she said.

  “I know it’s not my place, but I think you should give Cypress a chance.”

  “But—”

  “Just think about it, okay? Don’t shut it down right away.”

  I closed my mouth again, knowing I needed to accept my sister’s point of view. “Who’s the other woman?”

  “Evan’s new wife?” she whispered.

  I nodded.

  “Her name is Jasmine. She’s nineteen or so. They live in Monterey.”

  “How did he meet her?”

  “She was out with her friends around here, and he ran into her. The rest is history.”

  “So…he just left?”

  She nodded. “Said he’d fallen in love with someone else and asked for a divorce. It all happened really quickly.”

  “Did you have any idea?”

  She shook her head. “When I look back on it now, there was some suspicious stuff. But at the time, I didn’t think my husband would ever do that to me, so I was never paranoid about it.”

  God, I felt terrible for her. “What does she do?”

  “She’s a student at the college. He supports her.”

  “How is he with the girls?”

  Her eyes welled up with tears again. “Hardly sees them anymore. It’s like he stopped caring.” She covered her mouth to stifle a sob. “That’s the worst part…it’s like he wants nothing to do with them.”

  “Amelia…” I scooted my chair closer to hers and wrapped my arms around her. I listened to her sob against my shoulder.

  “He doesn’t give me child support, says I don’t need it.”

  What a fucking asshole.

  “I ask him to pick up the girls for the weekend, and he doesn’t text back. He just wants to be young again…with a woman ten years younger than him. I gave birth to his children, and he just tossed me aside…”

  I squeezed her harder. “I’m so sorry…” I didn’t know what else to say to comfort her. It was devastating. It was worse than what Cypress had done to me. Evan turned his back on his entire family just because a younger and possibly more attractive woman wanted him. It was absolutely sickening.

  “I know you are.”

  “You’ll get through it. I know you will.”

  Amelia pulled away and wiped her eyes with a tissue. “I’ve already come a long way. He’s been gone for a year, and I have gotten back into a routine. But when the girls ask for him, that never gets easier.”

  “He’s gonna come back. He’s gonna realize he made a huge mistake and come crawling on his hands and knees. I can promise you that.”

  “I hope he does…but I hope it’s to be a better father to the girls. Because I would never want to be his wife again. I gave him everything, and he threw it all away.”

  It was exactly how I felt about Cypress. “He’ll come back. The girls will have him back.” I had so much faith in it because Amelia was not only beautiful, but smart and funny. She was a serious catch. When we were in school, she was always classified as the pretty sister. That was always fine with me because it was the truth.

  “I hope so…I really do.”

  When I woke up the next morning, it was overcast, cold, and drizzly. I didn’t mind the weather on days like this. I usually made a fire and read on the couch, enjoying the warmth of my cottage with a blanket over my lap.

  But I needed to go to work and see Blade and Ace. I was excited to see them and hear about their lives. And I was certain they would be happy to see me too.

  As soon as I stepped outside, Cypress emerged from his house.

  “Are you watching me?”

  “No. Are you watching me?”

  I rolled my eyes and walked to the street.

  He did the same.

  When we were close to each other, that’s when I noticed the black wedding band he wore on his finger. It made me uncomfortable, so I looked away.

  Cypress walked up to me, wearing a gray hoodie and dark jeans. His dark brown hair contrasted against his fair skin, and his jaw was covered with a light amount of stubble. I remembered how thick his beard would get when he didn’t shave for a week. I would rub my fingers against it and feel how coarse it was. “How are you doing?”

  “I’m okay. I was at Amelia’s late last night…she told me about Evan.”

  He sighed and looked down the road. “Yeah…it was rough. But I went to his place and gave him a mean black eye. He had the bruise for two weeks.”

  I immediately smiled in satisfaction. “Thank you.”

  “She’s my sister too.”

  My smile dropped immediately. “Well, I’m going to work. I want to see Blade and Ace.”

  “Sounds like a good idea. They can’t wait to see you.” He started walking with me, his powerful arms swinging by his sides.

  “So…how does this work? We all own the restaurants?”

  “Yeah. We split the profits evenly.”

  “And we hop from restaurant to restaurant?”

  “We all have our main zones, but we do move around a lot. The other night, one of the bartenders got sick, so I worked. Amelia works at the diner a lot because she’s up early after she drops off the kids. The café is the easiest one, and Blade and I check in a lot. Ace mainly handles Olives. It’s chaotic, but we make it work.”

  “What made you guys decide to do this?”

  “It was your idea, actually. You said you wanted to expand but didn’t have the manpower. I wanted to open a restaurant too, so we all worked together to make it happen. And every restaurant is successful…because of you.”

  “And you guys carried on when I was gone?”

  “Well, you were never really gone. You already owned the café before the other restaurants, so you go in there and help out a bit. Whenever I’m there, I just sneak out the back so you don’t see me.”

  “Oh…”

  “We have our morning meetings at Amelia’s Place. So that’s where we’ll head.”

  “Her apartment?”

  “No, that’s the name of the diner. She thought it was cute.”

  “It is cute.”

  We walked to the restaurant that he told me was on Mission. When I looked through the window, I saw all the customers enjoying their coffee and breakfast. There was a line outside to get in even though it was in the middle of the week.

  We took the stairs to the second level and entered a large office space with several wooden desks. A banner hung from the ceiling that said, “Welcome Back, Bree!” Blade hopped out of his chair and ran to me first. He hugged me and picked me up before he spun me around. “There she is.”

  My arms hooked around his neck as I felt him lift me off the ground. “Oh my god.”

  He set me down then gave me another hug. “You have no idea how happy I am.”

  “I’m happy too…really happy.”

  Ace came next and gave me a bear hug. “Our genius entrepreneur is back. It was never the same without you.”

  “Thanks, Ace. I missed you. Both of you.” I hadn’t known what was going on when my mind was lost, but now that I was aware what happened, I realized I had missed out on years of their lives. “I want to know everything I missed. What’s going on with you?”

  “Honestly, the last few years have been pretty boring,” Blade said. “We pretty much just work all the time.”

  “It’s true,” Ace said as he shook his head. “We’re so lame.”

  “Shut up, you guys aren’t lame,” I said with a laugh.

  “Well, we’ve been lame without our boss to guide us,” Blade said.

  “Are you guys seeing anybody?” I took a seat at one of the desks, and they pulled up chairs so we could t
alk.

  “Well, I was seeing this girl a few months ago, but it didn’t go anywhere,” Blade said. “I’m back on the market. If you know of anyone, let me know.” He winked.

  “I’m dating a woman named Lady.” Ace had jet-black hair that was cropped short. He was muscular, looking like a Navy SEAL more than a restaurant owner. His arms were so big it didn’t seem like they could fit inside his t-shirt. “Actually, just had my first threesome the other night.”

  “Whoa.” I gave him a high five. “How’d it go?”

  “Pretty good,” Ace said. “Cypress gave me some advice that really helped.”

  “Of course he did…” All Cypress knew how to do was fuck.

  Ace adopted a guilty look, like he regretted mentioning Cypress at all. “Anyway…it was pretty hot.”

  “Are you gonna do it again?” I asked.

  “Depends on if Lady is cool with it,” Ace said. “And I hope she is because it was awesome.”

  “I need to find a woman who’s down for a threesome,” Blade said. “Every woman I meet wants the regular committed missionary package.”

  “There are worse packages,” I said. “I personally like that package.”

  “Then you need to experiment more,” Ace said with a laugh.

  “You guys know I’m too boring for that. I like one man, and I like having him all to myself.” Maybe I was a hopeless romantic, but I knew what I wanted. “So, you guys wanna catch me up on the businesses?” I had more to say about Cypress, but since he was standing in the room, I decided to wait until I was alone with the guys.

  “Absolutely.” Blade clapped his hands. “Let’s get to it.”

  I never got a chance to ask Blade and Ace anything because Cypress was there the whole time. But he couldn’t be around all the time, so I would get my chance eventually. We walked home together, and I couldn’t get around that since we were next-door neighbors.

  Cypress stuck to talk about the restaurants, going over extra things with me as we headed back home. I was glad he didn’t mention our relationship because I really didn’t have anything to say about it right now.

  I still couldn’t believe we were married.

  Married.

  When we reached my house, he didn’t go up the steps. “Have a good night. You know where to find me if you need me.”

  “Thanks, Cypress.” I knew I wanted a divorce, but I knew I had to forge a friendship with Cypress. He was legally tied up in the business, so it wasn’t like I would ever be able to get rid of him. Maybe in time we could have what I had with Blade and Ace.

  “No problem.”

  I turned around to walk up the stairs.

  “Will you have dinner with me tomorrow night? You can come to my place. I’m a great cook.”

  I stopped at the top stair and looked down at him. “I told you how I felt about this.”

  “And I’m disregarding it because you aren’t even trying.”

  My temper flared. “I don’t have to try anything. I don’t owe you anything, Cypress.”

  “The state of California disagrees.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “Why would you even want to work on a relationship with someone who doesn’t remember anything? With someone who thinks you’re a cheater and a liar?”

  “Simple. Because I love you.”

  My eyes softened when I wished they wouldn’t. “Cypress…I’m not trying to be mean. I don’t want to hurt you. But I don’t see this working.”

  “Because you aren’t trying.”

  “I don’t even know why I gave you another chance in the first place.”

  “Simple. Because you love me.”

  I crossed my arms over my chest. “Amelia told me you were there for her when I couldn’t be. I really appreciate that.”

  “You don’t need to thank me for that. She’s my family too.”

  “But that doesn’t change anything. I don’t know why you lived next door to me for eighteen months. What did you think was gonna happen?”

  He shrugged. “I hoped someday you would come back to me. And if you didn’t…I still wanted to take care of you. In sickness and in health, that’s what we promised to each other. I was committed to you even when you had no idea what was going on. I think I deserve a chance, Bree.”

  “You expect me to believe that?” I asked incredulously. “That you kept it in your pants for eighteen months while you didn’t get any action from your wife?”

  “I got plenty of action from you.” With broad shoulders and a powerful frame, he still looked taller than me even when I was on the top step.

  “Did not.”

  “Did too. You can ask Amelia and the guys.”

  “You managed to get me in bed within one day? After everything you did?”

  “Yep.” He wore a smug look. “And no, I was never with anyone else. You’re the only woman I want, Bree. Even if you don’t want me right now. I’m not gonna go away. I’m not gonna let this go without a fight. I kept my end of the deal, and now you need to keep yours.”

  “I don’t have to do anything.”

  “Yes, you do.”

  “I can get a divorce without your signature. You don’t have anything over me.”

  “I never said I did. But you need to honor what we had. You can’t throw it away. If you just give me a chance, we can make it come back.”

  “We can’t.”

  “With that attitude, we can’t.”

  “Cypress.” I gave him a firm look. “I’m not gonna change my mind. I’m sorry that you wasted your time waiting around for me. I’m sorry you took care of me instead of just leaving. But I don’t feel anything for you. I don’t trust you. You’ll always be the man who broke my heart. That’s it.”

  “If that were the case, then why did you sleep with me?”

  I stomped my foot. “How should I know? I don’t even remember those nights, so how can I answer you?”

  “It’s easy. You still love me. Despite what I did, you still loved me. That’s why you gave me another chance. And you’re gonna give me another chance now. I’ll earn your trust. I’ll prove myself to you. I’ll make you fall in love with me all over again. But I need you to give me that chance first.”

  No way in hell. I didn’t see him as the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. I saw him as the cheating playboy who ripped out my heart and stomped on it. After what he put me through, I deserved better.

  I turned around and walked to my front door, exhausted by the conversation.

  “I’ll get you back, sweetheart. Trust me.”

  I got the door open and turned around before I walked inside. “Good luck.”

  12

  Bree

  Amelia was downstairs working in the diner, and Cypress was manning the café on Ocean, so that left me alone with Ace and Blade.

  Blade had his feet on the desk, his gray Keds on display. With his hands behind his head, he looked out the window to the small apartment complex next door. “I wonder what it’s like to live in town. Is it loud all the time?”

  “I doubt it’s quiet.” Ace worked on his laptop, doing the books for each restaurant separately. “And since most places close at nine, kinda sucks. You can’t just walk down the street and get a six-pack of beer. You’d have to drive to the Crossroads in Carmel Valley.”

  I was trying to get my life back on track, but that wasn’t such a simple thing to accomplish. So much time had passed, and I’d missed everything. The only business I remembered was the Hippopotamus Café. Now I was learning three new ones.

  Blade turned his gaze on me. “You doing okay, Bree?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine.” My thoughts had wandered off. “Just thinking…”

  Ace shut his laptop. “You know you can talk to us. We don’t have vaginas, but we can be pretty girly sometimes.”

  “Really girly,” Blade repeated. “Working with Amelia all the time and helping out with the girls has really softened us.”

  I smiled, appreciating their niceness.
“It’s just hard to understand everything. I still can’t believe I married Cypress. What the hell was I thinking?”

  Blade shrugged. “He’s definitely a nice piece of eye candy.”

  Ace narrowed his eyes at him. “Dude, what’s wrong with you?”

  “What?” Blade asked defensively. “He is. You don’t need to be gay to figure that out.”

  Ace shook his head. “Weirdo…”

  “Are you saying you think he’s ugly?” Blade challenged.

  “No,” Ace countered. “I’m not saying anything about him.”

  “So you’re totally oblivious to people who attractive and not attractive? You can’t tell the difference?”

  This argument could go on for a while. “Okay, Cypress is hot. I definitely agree with you on that. That’s why I asked him out in the first place. But he doesn’t offer anything else.”

  “I don’t know about that,” Ace said. “He’s smart, loyal, hardworking… I have nothing but good things to say about that guy.”

  “Yeah,” Blade added. “He’s my best friend.”

  “Hey.” Ace threw up his arms. “What about me?”

  “What?” Blade asked. “I can’t have more than one best friend?”

  Ace slowly lowered his arms. “Wouldn’t kill you to say it once in a while…”

  As strange as they were, I’d missed this so much. “Last thing I remember, you guys wanted to kill Cypress.”

  “Of course we did.” Blade took his feet off the desk and lowered them to the floor. “We hated that guy. When you started seeing him again, we weren’t happy about it.”

  “Gave him a lot of shit.” Ace leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “Made a lot of threats. But that never stopped him.”

  “When did you start liking him?” I asked.

  “When he proved that he had changed,” Blade answered. “He always hung out with us, even when we ignored him. He kept trying to be with you, even when you said no. But after a few months, we noticed how happy you were. So we finally let it go. As time went on, he seemed different. Never saw him even look at another woman. And the entire time you lost your memory, I still never saw him look at another woman.”