by Amelia Shea
“I was sitting in their meeting room. My social worker brought them in. I still remember my mom’s smile. Hadn’t seen someone smile at me like that since my grandma. They sat down, introduced themselves, and just started talking. She talked about their house and property. Sat there for an hour, and honestly, I couldn’t tell you what was said. I was so focused on her smile. When our time was up, she asked if I thought I might like to visit them sometime.”
Bogs grinned at Kenzie and laughed. “I said, ‘How about now?’”
“Did you?”
He nodded. “Yep, went home with them and never left.”
“And you lived happily ever after?”
“Not exactly. I spent the next three months walking on eggshells. Didn’t want to screw up and have them send me back. It worked for a while until I got in trouble at school. Wanted so badly to get a hundred on a test, I cheated and got caught. They called my mom and dad in. I remember sitting in the chair feeling like my life was over. I fucked it all up. The ride home was hell. No one said a word. When we got home, my dad sat on the couch, and I just lost it. Crying and begging them not to send me away, swore up and down I’d do better, worked myself up so bad, I almost puked.”
Kenzie’s hand cupped his jaw. “Aw…Bogs,” she whispered.
“Then my mom came over, gave me that smile, and hugged me real tight. God, man, I latched onto to her as if she was my last chance.” He gulped a breath. “I was trying to memorize how it felt.”
He had been so convinced they would send him back that he wanted to at least be left with the memory, a good one, something he could hold onto when he was scared and alone.
“But they didn’t send you back?”
“No.” Bogs smiled. “My dad said I was their son and there was no way in hell I was ever going anywhere. Then my mom gave him a glare for saying hell.” Bogs laughed. His mother didn’t tolerate cursing.
“I still remember being wrapped in my mom’s arms and my dad kneeling down in front of me. He said they didn’t expect me to be perfect and they didn’t want that. They just wanted me to be me.” He cocked a brow. “Without the cheating, of course.”
Kenzie snorted. “Did you get in trouble for cheating?”
“Hell yeah. No dessert for a week, and double chores. My dad said a good man would have to take the consequences for his actions, but there was nothing I could do that would ever have them send me away. I was their son.”
Kenzie dropped her lips to his and kissed him slowly. “Then you got your happily ever after?”
He had gotten the childhood every kid deserves but it wasn’t his end. He was pretty sure he was staring at his end. He wanted what his mom and dad had. He craved the cliché—in good times and in bad, ’til death did them part. He saw it, and he felt it. Kenzie was it for him.
He shook his head and kissed her lips again. “Not yet, but I’m working on it. How am I doing, pretty girl? Am I gonna get that happily ever after?”
Her eyes softened, and her lip quirked up. “Yes,” she whispered.
Chapter Nineteen
A week had passed since their first official fight and the moment that marked them as a couple. Best week of her life. They continued with their routine, staying at Jonah’s house at night, and work during the day. Bogs had promised he would reach out to Trent so she could at least talk with Taylor. She missed her. Luckily, an invitation to hang out with Bogs’ sister and the wives came at the perfect time.
Kenzie stood at the front door of the small house rocking on her heels. The music from inside the house was loud, and the sound of laughter had her smiling and peering over at Bogs. He looked down and rolled his eyes before leaning forward and knocking again. This time practically pounding on the door. He had tried the handle when they first arrived, but the door was locked.
He pulled out his phone and texted quickly. Ten seconds later the door flew open, and Roxanne shouted, “You’re here!” Kenzie jolted in surprise and then chuckled. An obviously intoxicated Roxanne grasped her wrist and yanked her inside the door.
“We been here for ten minutes, Rox. You better drop the volume on that music before T’s neighbors call the cops,” Bogs said with his arms folded. Kenzie almost burst out laughing when his sister stuck her tongue out at him.
“What are you, the fun police? Relax, Bogs, it’s not that loud. Besides, all T’s neighbors are scared shitless of him so they won’t call it in, and Cass is keeping us in line.”
Kenzie watched Bogs move forward, but Roxanne’s hand shot out, stabbing him in the chest. She shook her head. “No boys allowed. Go meet the guys at E’s. And don’t come for her until we call.”
Don’t come for her? What had she gotten herself into? She was expecting a few laughs and drinks, not a hostage situation.
She was surprised this morning when his phone rang, and after answering it, he handed it to her. She almost thought it might be Taylor, but it wasn’t. His sister invited her over for a girl’s night. Now, there she was, about to spend a few hours with what sounded like a rowdy bunch of women and being held captive.
Bogs snorted. “Can I at least say bye?”
Roxanne looked between Bogs and Kenzie and nodded. “Fine, but make it quick and get out.”
Kenzie stepped forward meeting him at the door. She half expected Roxanne to stand there and watch, but she turned around and shouted, “Kenzie’s here!”
Kenzie burst out laughing as Bogs cupped her jaw and snickered. “Good luck, pretty girl. Don’t let them corrupt you, that’s my job.” He pressed his lips to hers in what should have been a quick kiss. Instead, he angled his head, deepening the kiss, sliding his tongue along her bottom lip. Blocking everything from her mind, she opened up and entered his mouth. God, this man could kiss making it feel like the first time, every time. How did he do that?
She gripped his shirt in her fist and tugged him closer. His lips spread in a smile but that didn’t stop her from continuing the kiss. The girl’s night seemed like a good idea but now, here, kissing him? She was rethinking it and maybe sneaking away with him back to the house.
“Awwww….” A chorus of high-pitched squeals halted the kiss. She glanced over her shoulder to see all the women huddled at the end of the hall smiling and laughing. Heat covered her face as she turned back to Bogs. He was grinning and shaking his head. He leaned down for another kiss. This one quick. He stepped back and shouted, “Don’t scare her away.”
She watched him walk down the stairs before closing the door and walking inside.
Six beers and four hours later, Kenzie could barely feel her face. It was numb from laughing so much. These girls were a trip. They had spent the last hour giving their stories of how they had come to be Garrisons. She had a feeling there were missing pieces to the stories, the gaps were obvious, but she wasn’t questioning them.
She had expected them to grill her on what was going on with her and Bogs, but they didn’t. They spent most of the night bullshitting about everything. There was something amazing about how different each of them were yet their personalities flowed. Even her.
“And then we got married,” Sadie said, getting up from the couch next to Emory.
Emory snorted and pointed her beer at Roxanne. “That leaves you as the last single girl in the room.”
Rox held up her finger. “Thank you, Captain Obvious. Ever think maybe I like being on my own? Don’t have to deal with overly protective men. I think you’re jealous, Em.”
Emory twisted her lips and raised her eyebrows. “Oh, yeah, sure, girl. I’m jealous of your abstinence. You don’t know how bad it sucks getting laid nightly.”
Roxanne covered her face with her hands. “No talking about sex with my brother, you bitch.”
Kenzie laughed with the group. She liked them all, but Roxanne was her favorite. There was a way about her. Even though it was obvious that they were all close, Roxanne made a point of making sure Kenzie felt comfortable and filling in the backstory when the girls said, “Remember tha
t one time…”
Sadie came back in the room and sat next to Kenzie. “You know any guys for our girl?”
Kenzie didn’t. Except maybe one. It was hard to miss how he looked at her the night of the dinner. “What about Jonah?”
The room got quiet. She wasn’t sure if they knew who she was talking about.
“The guy from the party,” she clarified. Gazing around, she noticed the hidden smiles on Sadie and Cassie. Emory’s was less subtle.
Emory wiggled. “The one with the sleeve tattoo, the muscles bulging out from his shirt, the gorgeous, rugged face that could make any girl squirm one second and disrobe in record time? Is that the one you’re talking about?”
Kenzie laughed. “That’s him.” She glanced over to Roxanne. “He’s really nice, too.”
Roxanne blushed and took a sip of her wine. “The one who doesn’t know I exist?”
“Oh, shut up, Rox. Not a man alive that doesn’t know you exist. Please, spare me.” Emory tossed a pillow at her. Roxanne dodged the assault while balancing her glass. Kenzie had to agree with Emory on it. Roxanne was beautiful.
“I think you should make a move, Rox. Pursue him,” Sadie said next to her.
“There’s nothing to pursue. Yes, he’s gorgeous, and yes, he’s successful, and yes, when I tried to talk to him at the party he avoided me like the friggin’ plague. So, can we drop the Jonah talk.” She shifted uncomfortably in her seat and gazed over at Kenzie. “I wanna hear more about the Bogs situation. Girl, my brother has never, and I mean never, been so into a girl in his life. What’s your secret? And please leave out the naked parts.” Her face scrunched in disgust. “I need new friends who aren’t banging my brothers.”
Emory threw something at Roxanne again. Kenzie was pretty sure it was food this time. This get-together might be getting out of hand. “Hell no, don’t you dare leave out the naked parts. Bogs is hot!”
Roxanne scoffed, widening her eyes in disbelief. “He is not.”
“Yeah, he is, Rox,” Sadie chimed in, giggling.
“He’s our brother!” she shouted.
Cassie shook her head. “No, he’s your brother. And I agree, Bogs is sexy.”
Kenzie laughed and sat back in the couch and locked eyes with Roxanne. Kenzie shrugged and smirked. “Don’t look at me. I’m banging him. Of course, I think he’s hot.”
The roar of laughter from the girls, including Roxanne, had Kenzie joining in. While she wasn’t going to discuss their sex life, she wouldn’t deny that he was hot.
“I’m getting the tequila. Let’s do shots.” Emory got up from the couch and disappeared into the kitchen.
Kenzie wasn’t sure she could handle any more alcohol. She sank into the couch wondering how Bogs felt about holding her hair back again as she prayed to the porcelain gods.
All the girls leaned forward taking their glasses from Emory, who was passing them around. The last one had an amber-hued tone, and she passed it to Cassie.
“I’m pregnant, Em.”
“Yeah, I know, that’s why I poured apple juice. Just because you can’t drink doesn’t mean you miss out on toasting. Throw back your juice like a real woman, Prego.”
Cassie rolled her eyes which made Kenzie smile. They held up their shots and made their rounds of toasts.
“To healthy babies…” Cassie said.
“To drunken bitches…”
“To getting laid, except for Rox…”
“To Bogs finding a girl he probably doesn’t deserve but we’ll hope she doesn’t figure that out.” Roxanne winked at her. “You’re up, Kenzie, make it a good one…”
“Because I just have a feeling…” She shrugged and smiled at Roxanne. “To Roxanne and Jonah.”
“Good one, I got the same feeling,” Emory said. “Drink, ladies.”
The smooth burn of liquid went down too easy. Reminding her again she was drunk and would probably live to regret this shot. She glanced around to see the women licking their lips. They were obviously seasoned drinkers.
Roxanne twisted her lips and settled into the chair. “Remember the first time we did tequila, Em?”
Emory snorted. “Yeah, I woke up wearing someone else’s shirt with a half-eaten taco in my pocket.”
Oh shit, this night is not going to end well.
»»•««
Bogs had skipped poker at his brother’s house. They were all getting together while the girls had their night at T and Cassie’s house. His intention was to stay in the truck and park down the street, unbeknownst to the women, including Kenzie. The threat for her with Dante was still there, and he wasn’t about to leave her unprotected. The call from Trent, the one he’d been waiting on finally came through as he got into his car from dropping her off.
“What’s up, man?”
“Talked to Dante. He’s a classy one, isn’t he?”
Bogs snickered. “A well-dressed thug was my assessment.”
“Agreed. We’ve come to an understanding. I’ll be meeting up with him in a few days. The threat on Kenzie has been lifted.”
His chest actually relaxed. “And Taylor?”
Trent sighed heavily. “It will take a little more than finesse to fix that situation. The girl has a petulance for pissing off the wrong people with her mouth and antics. And then there’s the fact that she’s batshit crazy.”
Bogs chuckled. It was apparent, Taylor was leaving a mark on Trent and not the good kind. “Think I can come up, bring Kenzie? Figure it might be some time before her situation is settled. Maybe it’ll smooth things over with her if you let Kenzie come see her?”
“Doubtful. The woman lives to be the bane of my existence. How she’s gotten this far in life is beyond me.” The muffled voices in the background echoed. He leaned his ear closer to the phone. “God, dammit, Taylor. Bogs, man, I gotta go. Come up tomorrow.”
“Later, man.” He hung up and wondered what the hell Kenzie’s best friend was doing to Trent. The man who usually possessed a laid-back attitude to rival Bogs almost sounded enraged.
With Kenzie in the clear, Bogs made his way to the office to catch up on a few things while Kenzie was with the girls. He was closing up his desk when a text came in with a picture. It was from Rox. A selfie with all the girls clearly wasted except for Cassie. They were smiling or more like laughing. He noticed Kenzie with an open mouth smile aimed at the camera. Fucking gorgeous. The message had been sent in a group text to all the men. The caption “Sleepover, don’t come for us until morning. T, sleep at E’s.”
Immediately the texts began popping up.
T: Fuck no
Roxanne: Fuck yes, T. Cassie says we can
Stone: be there in 20
Roxanne: ok, 10:20 tomorrow morning
Ethan: On my way.
Roxanne: The door is locked, come back tomorrow
Bogs smiled. His sister, being the youngest, was always pushing the limits with the brothers but she was funny as hell. She had just enough balls to actually lock the door and refuse them in. He shook his head, loaded his laptop and walked toward the door. He added his own text to the group.
Bogs: You’ve fucking corrupted her, haven’t you?
Roxanne’s response was almost immediate.
Roxanne: We love her, and we’re keeping her.
His light chuckle echoed through the empty office. There was no way in hell he was being away from Kenzie for the night, but his chest expanded in relief that the girls were feeling the same as him about Kenzie. Well, not exactly the same but they embraced and accepted her.
It took him less than fifteen minutes to make it to the house. All three of his brothers’ cars were lined in the street with T’s in the driveway. He parked behind Ethan and could hear the girls laughing from inside. He didn’t bother knocking and entered the house.
“You’re no fun, T,” Roxanne whined from the couch where she sat in between Sadie and Kenzie, who was giggling. Her pink cheeks and glassy eyes were proof enough for him. His girl was drunk.
&
nbsp; “I fucking left my house so you could get shit-faced and I’m not fucking fun?”
A soft hand on his back had him looking over his shoulder to see Cassie. Her smile was amused, and she rolled her eyes. He hooked his arm over her shoulder and tugged her into his side. “You been getting some practice babysitting, baker girl?”
Her head rested on his chest, and she chuckled gaining everyone’s attention.
“Hey asshole, get your hands off my wife.” T turned to the girls on the couch. “And the rest of you, get the fuck out.”
“T,” Cassie warned.
The room burst with laughter, even Bogs. The only one not laughing was Cassie who whispered, “No manners.”
The girls got up ungracefully, using each other for support, which backfired when Kenzie stood and was dragged back down by Roxanne, who was using her as a rope to pull herself off the couch. Then the snickering ensued.
Roxanne pushed off the couch and stood, then Sadie and Kenzie, who swayed a little too much. She extended her arms slightly, staring down at the ground. Oh hell, she was beyond drunk and entering the wasted level of drinking.
The girls stumbled around getting their things while Kenzie made her way to him. It was as if she just noticed he was in the room. She looked over, caught his smirk, and she beamed. He raised his eyebrows.
“We’re not that drunk, for the record,” Sadie said, fooling no one with her slurred speech. She stumbled forward and knocked into Kenzie who side-stepped to gain her balance and failed. Bogs rushed forward, but he was too far from her. Her foot tripped over her ankle, and she spread her hands out wide to catch her fall. Cassie gasped. Fuck!
Before she made contact with the hardwood floor, T’s arm came out and hooked around her waist. She steadied herself with her hands over his forearm. The panic on her face seemed to lessen, but her cheeks blazed.
Emory stepped forward and slapped T’s arm. “Hey asshole, get your hands off Bogs’ girl.” The girls burst out laughing, throwing T’s words back in his face. Even Bogs chuckled.