by Lucy Lennox
Grandpa’s face lit up. “Excellent. I’ll bet Adrien and Margot are thrilled. I don’t think they ever saw him unless they visited Atlanta. Does West know? He’ll finally have someone on staff close to his own age.”
As they chattered about Xavier, I realized it was the same Xavier that West had dated in med school. The realization the guy was moving to Hobie hit hard, leaving a strange calm over me. It surprised me, really. I was expecting to feel jealous and angry hearing about West’s ex moving back to town. But all I felt was this weird sense of karma clicking into place. Like the universe was backing up my assertion that I wasn’t the right one for West. And now Fate was serving up a better option on a silver platter just as I was leaving. How perfectly perfect for him.
Doc and Grandpa apparently thought the world of the guy. According to their inane chatter, Xavier was smart and gorgeous, clever and kind. Everyone loved him, and he probably wore a goddamned superhero costume under his scrubs. The more they described how great he was, the more I worried I’d accidentally sprained my nostrils from flaring too much.
The subject finally changed after we sat down to dinner, and Rebecca mentioned something about my tattoo shop to Grandpa.
“He’s very talented,” she said, beaming with pride. “It takes forever to get on his schedule. I’m sure it’s been a mess for his calendar since he’s been gone.”
Doc smiled at me. “Actually, Nico, I wanted to ask you about a piercing—”
Grandpa’s hand came up to clamp over Doc’s mouth. “Are you crazy?”
Doc’s eyes twinkled at his husband, almost daring him to take his hand away.
“Don’t you dare say it,” Grandpa warned. Doc winked at him, and holy hell, Grandpa’s cheeks turned an adorable pink.
“Well, whatever you may or may not want pierced, you’ll have to come see me in California. I’m heading back the day after tomorrow.”
Everyone stopped laughing and looked at me with surprise.
“Really?” Griff asked. “So soon?”
I nodded. “I need to get back to work. Doc, I was hoping you could help West take care of Pippa until the adoption goes through. I can’t imagine it’ll take too long now that the last document is in Honovi’s hands. All West has to do is sign the paperwork.”
I felt like I was going to throw up.
Doc reached his hand over and placed it on mine. “Nico, are you sure about this? Why don’t you take some more time to—”
“No, I’m sure. The Warners seem like wonderful people, and they’ll give her a great life. It’s better for her even if it’s hard for me. And that’s what it’s all about, right?” I tried to put on a brave face even though I was dying inside.
“Well, we can certainly watch her, but—”
“Good. It’s settled then. I’m going to go take a walk if you guys don’t mind. Just want to stretch my legs a little bit.”
Rebecca got up from her spot at the table and came around to give me a hug. “I love you, Nico Salerno. You’re a good man,” she whispered in my ear. “Take your time on your walk and don’t worry about us. We’re here for whatever you need.”
I swallowed around the lump in my throat and gave the two older men a quick wave before heading out the front door and hopping down the front porch steps. Before I got to the end of the driveway, I was loping, and by the time I got to Dogwood Street, I was on a full-out run.
Before I knew what I was doing, I was banging hard on West’s back door, out of breath and sweaty from the exertion.
Chapter 36
West
I’d been catching up on reading some articles for work when I heard the banging on my door. I wondered which of my siblings had shown up and why they were riled up enough to bang instead of using the doorbell.
I wandered down the stairs and opened the door to find a flushed and sweating Nico, but before I could register my surprise, he pounced on me. I stumbled back into the alcove at the bottom of the stairs and was barely able to kick my door closed before he began pulling my clothes off.
“What… what’s happening?” I gasped against his biting teeth on my lips. “Not that I’m complaining.”
“No talking,” he insisted. His hands were everywhere, in my hair, on my clothes, cupping my ass. He was a whirling dervish of lust and need, and I had a hard time keeping up.
I wanted to ask him what was wrong, why he’d come, where Pippa was. But he didn’t let go of my lips long enough for me to speak. I sensed his lust and need for quick release and decided to just ride the wave along with him—let it carry us through to completion before asking him what was up with him.
“Upstairs,” I managed to say before he was able to drag my pants down. I grabbed his hand and yanked him upstairs, not stopping until I had him in my bedroom with the door closed.
His eyes were dark and stormy—angry sea chop instead of their usual calm waters. There was so much going on in them I wanted to get to the bottom of it. But if he needed to get off, I was fully on board with that need as well.
Nico began grabbing at me again once we were in my room. His frantic movements seemed to imply he was on the verge of losing his composure, or maybe he didn’t know exactly how to control the situation to get what he needed. I decided to take over.
“Stop. Take off your clothes and lie down,” I said as firmly as I could despite the heaving breaths coming out of me. My cock was throbbing, and I reached inside my track pants to adjust it.
Nico’s eyes were wild, but he did as I said. Within seconds he was blessedly naked and laid out across my bed, stroking his erection between bent legs.
“Fuck,” I muttered at the sight of him.
I removed my clothes slowly enough to get his attention. His face seemed to get darker the longer I took, but I did it anyway.
“Hurry the fuck up,” he snapped.
I felt my grin appear and caught myself just before laughing. Angry Nico. My angry Nico.
“My, my, aren’t we impatient tonight?” I teased, taking one step toward the bed but no more.
“I thought you agreed we weren’t talking,” he growled. “Less talking, more fucking.”
I leaned over and reached for his ankles, yanking his legs straight and placing them firmly apart on the mattress where I wanted them. His eyes widened in surprise, and his hard cock jumped up.
“But if I can’t talk to you, how am I going to tell you what to do, Nico?” I drawled.
His breathing hitched, and a small whine came out. I loved seeing his subconscious reaction to my bossing him around in bed.
I leaned over and took one of his big toes into my mouth, sucking it and nipping at it with my teeth before moving on to each smaller toe in turn. When I’d finished with one foot, I looked up at him.
“The more attitude you give me, the slower I’m going to go,” I told him in a calm voice. “Test me on this, Nico. I dare you.”
He shook his head without saying a word, so I rewarded him with a long lick to his hard shaft.
“Oh god, yes. Suck me off,” he gasped as he arched up against my mouth. “Please.”
I trailed soft kisses back down his inner thigh to the foot I hadn’t paid attention to yet and began sucking each of those toes the way I’d done the others.
“Dammit,” he cursed before biting his tongue to keep himself quiet.
I ran my hand back up his thigh to fiddle with his balls while I followed it with licks and nips until I took his cock into my mouth again.
His hips automatically began thrusting into my mouth, and I encouraged him with a squeeze to his ass. Just as I felt his body getting close to release, I pulled off and lurched up to slam my mouth over his. He barely had time to suck in a breath before our mouths were invading each other. Nico’s hands went into my hair and held my head in place while I pressed my pelvis into his and felt the sweet, slick slide of our cocks together.
“West,” he groaned. “You feel so good.”
“Want you,” I told him before moving do
wn to suck on his neck. “So fucking badly.”
He began whispering the word please over and over again, and I wasn’t sure he even realized he was doing it. With every repetition of the word, my heart thundered harder and faster in my chest.
I finally grabbed what I needed from the table and began sliding lubed fingers inside him. His eyes were wide and pleading, his cock was hard and leaking, and the sounds coming out of him were stark and begging. I almost didn’t last. But he was finally stretched enough that I could press into him.
I grabbed his legs under the knees and pushed back, folding him in on himself so I could see every second of his body taking me in. He threw his head to one side with a hiss as I breached his outer muscles.
“’S okay?” I murmured.
He nodded and turned back to look at me, reaching out a hand to palm the side of my face with a gentle touch.
“West,” he breathed. His eyes looked glassy and full—no longer stormy but still brimming with emotion unspoken. I wanted to dive into them.
“I’m right here with you, beautiful.” I leaned over him to brush a kiss across his lips before pulling out and thrusting back in again.
We locked eyes while my hips stroked in and out of his body, slowly at first and then speeding up until I was practically pummeling him. The sounds he was making went straight to my gut, and I reached for his cock between us and did my best to jack him off before losing myself to the pull of my climax.
He arched beneath me, crying out and coming as his body jerked. The sight of it ignited my own release, and I felt my cock stiffen inside his hot body.
“Nico,” I gasped. His eyes widened as he watched me come, my body shaking and shuddering above him. I felt amazing, invincible, at peace.
Once we came down from our high, spent and gasping in a heap on the bed, I turned to smile at him, shocked to find tears leaking out of his eyes. He didn’t look at me, rather turned his face away until he was gazing unseeing at the wall.
“Nico,” I said, worried. “What’s wrong? Talk to me. Did I hurt you?”
Nico’s head spun back around to face me. “No! God, no. Of course not.”
“Then what is it? You’re clearly upset. Please tell me what’s going on. Is it Pippa?”
More tears.
“I love her.”
I couldn’t help but smile. His declaration was said with absolute horror, as if loving that perfect child could ever be a bad thing.
“I know you do, baby,” I said softly, stroking the side of his face with the back of my fingers. He turned absently to kiss them before facing me again.
“I have to leave, West.”
Even though I’d already known he would be leaving, hearing it was still a punch to the gut. I felt like a big, happy balloon that had just received the sharp end of a tack.
“Yeah, I know,” I said, more angrily than I’d intended. His eyes widened in surprise. “Why bring it up right now? You don’t need to shove it in my face.”
“Nice,” he bit out.
“Fuck, Nico. What do you expect me to say? Please don’t go?” I swallowed thickly when I realized that’s what I truly wanted to say. I wanted to ask him to stay. But I knew it was pointless. “I’m not sure saying that would make a damned bit of difference to you.”
“What are you saying?”
“Just that you’re bound and determined to do what you want to do regardless of other people’s feelings.”
“Are you fucking kidding me right now?”
I knew I needed to stop this, whatever it was, before it got out of hand. But I couldn’t seem to do it. Anger and fear bubbled up from somewhere deep and hidden, and I felt like lashing out at him.
“No, I’m not kidding. I don’t want you to go. You know I don’t want you to go. But go ahead anyway. Leaving is something you’re really good at, Nico.” My voice sounded foreign to my ears. It was toneless and gray, empty. I got up to head to the bathroom and stepped into the shower without another word to him.
I wasn’t surprised to find him missing when I returned to the bedroom, and when I made my way to the stairs leading down to my door, I knew he was gone.
I just didn’t realize at the time that he was gone, gone. By the time I got up my nerve to go talk to him the following day after work, there was a For Sale sign at the end of the driveway and Doc was loading what looked to be pieces of Pippa’s crib into his truck. Nico’s rental car was nowhere to be found.
After slamming my truck into park, I jumped out and raced to help him.
“What’s going on? Where are they?” My heart was slamming in my chest, and I felt cold prickles on my skin. “Doc, where are they?”
Doc’s sad eyes said it all.
“No,” I said.
“Pippa’s right there in her car seat,” Doc said gently, pointing forward into the cab to a sleeping Pipsqueak all bundled up and rosy-cheeked in the morning chill. “Nico’s gone back to California. I was headed to your place next to see what you wanted me to do with her.”
“No,” I said again, as if saying it could reverse what had happened. “Please tell me he didn’t leave her. He didn’t leave without saying goodbye to me.”
Doc came around the tailgate toward me and grabbed me into a bear hug, tighter than I could ever remember him holding me. The gesture set my emotions into the stratosphere, and I couldn’t hold back tears of anger.
“That motherfucker,” I said. “That stupid, selfish, motherfucker. I hate him.”
“You love him,” Doc said with gentle firmness that brooked no argument.
“I don’t,” I said defiantly.
He let out a chuckle. “Oh Westie, of course you do. And he loves you too.”
“Bullshit.”
Doc pulled back from the embrace and gestured for me to sit on the tailgate next to him.
“It’s so obvious, West. Even if you don’t see it. He’s used to being on his own. Clearly he’s put up some big walls around his heart for whatever reason. Maybe he just doesn’t believe he’s worth it.”
“He is worth it though,” I insisted. “He is.”
Doc patted my knee and smiled. “Have you told him that? Maybe you should ask him to come back and give it a try.”
“He hates Hobie, Doc. Plus I already asked him to stay, and he didn’t. I can’t make him want it. I can’t make him want to come back here for me.”
“No, but you can tell him how you feel—that there’s something here for him if he wants to take a chance on it. You can fight for him. Can you imagine my life if I hadn’t taken the chance on your grandfather? If I hadn’t told him how I felt about him?”
Just the thought of it made my heart hurt. I couldn’t imagine those two without each other.
“I’m not saying it’ll all turn out happily ever after for you, son. I’m only suggesting that you realize you only have this one life. If you see something you want, you owe it to yourself to at least fight for it. Stop living your life according to what you should do. It’s okay to be a little selfish sometimes, West. You deserve happiness too. Everyone deserves to be loved.”
I heard a small sound from behind me and looked back at Pippa. She was awake and staring at me with her big blue-green eyes. Her dark curls poked out from the edges of the soft cap on her head, and one of her ears had made its way out from under the cap as well. She was a tiny version of her uncle, and in that moment I was so full of emotion I thought I might drown from the weight of it.
Doc’s words echoed in my head. Everyone deserved to be loved, and that included Pippa. No one could love that baby more than Nico and me. And if Nico wasn’t there to love on her, than I sure as hell would be.
“Will you follow me to my place and ask Grandpa to meet us there?” I asked Doc.
“Sure. You want me to ask him to bring us something to eat?”
I felt a grin split my face. “As long as it’s not chili. Tell him to bring you some work clothes and his toolbox. We have a nursery to put together.”
Once I got in my truck, I picked up my phone to dial my friend Honovi.
Chapter 37
Nico
I’d been back three weeks by the time my employees staged their intervention. After Mike flipped the open sign to closed and locked the front door, Jax and Coco came out of the back room like they were on a mission.
“Dude, you need to tell us what the fuck is going on with you, man. This shit is not okay,” Mike began.
Coco nodded her head in agreement while Jax looked on worriedly.
“What are you talking about?” I asked.
“You’re in a mood, sugar. Have been for weeks,” Coco scolded. “If it’s about your sister, honey, we understand. Really, we do. But you can’t keep being an ass to the clients.”
“When was I an ass to the clients?” I challenged.
They all three looked at each other before Jax finally spoke. “Nico, you just told Shotgun Hawkins to grow a pair. Do you have a death wish? That guy could slap you in the face with his Harley.”
I rolled my eyes. “Please. He was being a big baby.”
Coco snorted a laugh. “You were squeezing his testicles.”
“I was piercing his scrotum. There’s a difference. And can someone please remind him that manscaping is a thing? The guy could use a little hedge trim if you want to know the truth. Not to mention a shower wouldn’t go amiss.” I shuddered. “Don’t remind me. Ten bucks says he tries to ride his Harley against my orders and comes in here with more sniffles about his poor balls.”
Mike’s deep belly laugh echoed through the quiet shop. “Why the hell did he want a hafada anyway? You think his wife wants anything to do with his saggy nuts after all these years?”
“You never know what people do behind closed doors, Mikey. You never know. Maybe Mrs. Shotgun likes them nads bejeweled,” Coco joked.
I shuddered again. “Can we please stop talking about his jewels? I’ll be seeing them in my nightmares for weeks.”
Jax came around the counter to give me an impromptu hug.
“What was that for?” I asked him.