by C. M. Marin
“Not the same,” she retorts. “The cabin isn’t nearly as big as the club. They’d all see what I’m doing. They don’t see me go take a shower at the club.”
That doesn’t make sense.
“Okay,” I chuckle, not contradicting her.
“Okay, maybe it’s a little bit the same,” she concedes, knowing what I’m thinking. “But it’d be weird anyway, so no shower. I’ll eat, though. I’m starving.”
Same here. The food I brought stayed untouched in the cooler as we satiated a very different kind of hunger. I grab the cooler as Alex folds the blanket, and we head back to the cabin. She’s quiet on our way there, but it’s not the same quiet that followed her the day Wellington snatched her.
It was only a few weeks ago, and for a little while, but I feared that she wouldn’t come out of the shell she seemed to have lost herself in. I feared that she wouldn’t get over what happened. Alex has always been strong; but, at first, she had a hard time dealing with what she went through at the hands of that madman. Not only was she struggling with what happened, she was also struggling with what could have happened, as well as with her concern about the cops coming to knock on the club’s door. She was terrified of them taking me away for killing Wellington. I kept telling her that they would never even find him, but it wasn’t enough at first. But now that some time has passed, and that no one has come for me or my brothers, her fear has mostly tamed, and she’s okay.
As I glance at her staring at her ring with a dazzling smile, I’m just fine with this kind of quiet. The happy kind.
The closer we get to the cabin, the louder the rumble of voices breaking the silence of the woods gets. The whole crew is here, ready to get down to business and officially give a fresh start to the club’s life. The feeling is bittersweet, I’m not gonna lie. But moving forward is something we all need. My brothers all need this now. But most of all, Alex needs me to move forward. She deserves to have the kind of life that’s bright and filled with love and laughter, and that’s what I’m going to give her.
“Liam!” she squeals as soon as we enter the front yard, immediately spotting her brother talking with Cody near the front door.
She launches into a sprint toward him, and he just smiles at her as she throws herself into his arms.
He catches her in a tight hug as she squeaks, “I’m engaged!”
Cody’s widened eyes find me as I stroll toward them. His reaction contrasts with Liam’s, who isn’t surprised as he congratulates his sister. I kept my proposal a secret from my brothers, except for Liam. I told him out of respect, but also to get things straight with him. Things have been tense between us for too long, and it was time I fixed them. Now his resentment is gone, and I know that seeing his sister happy has played a huge part in forgiving me for hurting her.
“You’re engaged?!”
Fiona’s screeching voice is even louder than Alex’s as everyone else walks out of the cabin.
“Yes!” she answers with another shriek, and her hand is up in the air to show off her ring when she moves away from Liam to barrel toward Fiona.
When she’s close enough, Fiona grabs her hand to inspect her ring before looking my way, sounding surprised when she speaks, “Well done!”
“Thanks,” I roll my eyes while the guys come to congratulate me.
“You girls will all be my bridesmaids,” Alex decides as she hugs Fi, Camryn and Lilly.
“I’m in, but only if we don’t have to wear one of those puffed, bright pink dresses with a bunch of sparkling, heavy jewels,” Cam retorts, and she looks genuinely worried about wearing whatever kind of dress she just described.
Alex laughs. “No ugly dresses, that’s a promise. There won’t be any puffed princess dress with lace and strass everywhere for me either. I already have my dress. It’s my mom’s, and it’s simple and beautiful.”
“And why do I have to wear a suit if you don’t have to wear a puffed princess dress?” I step in, and I admit that I’m half hoping that we’ll at least address the suit issue.
Alex gives me a serious look, but she can’t hide the tinge of a smile that is close to spreading on her lips. “Because I say so.”
I nod as everyone chuckles. “Noted.”
Obviously, Ben laughs. “Good fucking luck, bro,” he tells me while shooting a wink to Alex, who is now smiling from ear to ear.
Reaching for her, my hands clamp on her shoulders and I pull her to me. Her back molds into my front as I speak low to her ear. “I am so going to spank you later.”
She laughs and turns around to brush her lips over mine. But it’s not enough, and my arms wrap around her, so I can pull her to me in the tightest embrace possible. Then I deepen the kiss, and our tongues mingle freely. The sounds of motion around us lets me know that everyone is moving away from us, leaving us some privacy as they most likely start to get busy with everything that needs to be done in the cabin. As for me, I’m just going to enjoy the taste of my fiancée for a little while longer before joining them.
EPILOGUE
Alexia
It’s a beautiful mid-May day. The sun is shining over the flowery cabin backyard; birds can be heard singing from high in the trees of the woods surrounding us; and despite the fact that I miss my parents even more today than I normally do, every person I love in this world is here to celebrate my wedding with the man I’m going to share the rest of my life with.
The decision to celebrate our wedding here came naturally. Doing it here just fits. The place is gorgeous and quiet, and the lake is where Jayce and I used to come every time we needed to get away from the chaos of the club. We have a lot of memories here. Good ones. This place just means a lot to both of us, and we thought that getting married here was the best way to reverse the mixed feelings we all unsurprisingly had about Isaac’s cabin considering the tragedy that unfolded within its walls. It happened almost two years ago, and we all agreed that a new beginning was necessary.
We worked relentlessly every evening and every weekend for an entire month inside and outside the cabin. We painted, cleaned and refurbished every room, using shades of white, beige and gray all through the place. As for outside, the girls and I took care of cheering up the front and back yards with colorful flowers and a few benches scattered here and there, while the guys had a higher, more solid fence put in place―that they concealed with trees they planted on each side―surrounding the small parcel that goes with the cabin. Blane also had several cameras installed all around the façade before the place was deemed ready and safe for today.
Jayce is standing behind me, his arm coiled around my waist keeping me pressed to his body as we both sip a glass of champagne. We’re in the backyard, where we got married a few hours ago, talking with Nate, Cam and Colleen. He got rid of his suit jacket not very long after we exchanged our vows, but I can’t deny that he’s still incredibly handsome with his tie loosened around his collar and a couple of the buttons on his crisp white shirt unfastened. That’s the only reason I haven’t given him grief about it. I, on the other hand, look just like I did when he slid my wedding band onto my finger. But I have to admit that my mom’s dress is as comfortable as a sun dress. It’s a long, white empire waist dress with large lacy straps covering my shoulders, and with a matching high-waist belt elegantly and discreetly jeweled. And I don’t intend to take it off before my wedding night, which is still a few hours away.
“Have you made up your mind about the honeymoon?” Colleen asks us.
Unlike where to celebrate our wedding, we waffled back and forth as to whether or not we would be going on a honeymoon for a while. Jayce would have bought the plane tickets for some paradisiacal island the day after I told him I wanted to get married as soon as possible, if that’s what I wanted. And I’m not saying that some exotic destination lost in the middle of an ocean isn’t something I’d love to go to sometime, but now isn’t the time. Because even though the Spiders haven’t made any move on the club yet, it doesn’t change the fact that CJ
is still alive. Discreet as ever, but alive nonetheless. Besides, I don’t need a fancy honeymoon. All I need is some time alone with my husband.
“We decided to go to California. The sun, the beach, and a villa Jayce rented for two weeks. But we aren’t leaving for six weeks because of work. A nurse broke her ankle last month, so they assigned a stand-in nurse until she’s back. And with Erin’s internship ending in a few days, it was impossible for me to get some time off. Especially since I’m not even supposed to get any time off so soon after I started working.”
“It would have been possible if you had quit,” Jayce quips in, and I reflexively slap his hand that’s resting on my stomach.
This argument got old a while ago, but he doesn’t seem to want to come to terms with my decision to keep working. He’d rather have me stay near him until the Spiders have been neutralized, and he has yet to get tired of reminding me about it every once in a while.
“Stop it,” I almost growl. “I’m not going to be one of those wives who cooks, cleans and sews all day.”
He snorts. “You’re not overreacting at all.”
“Trouble in paradise already?”
A grin on his face and his hands sunk into the pocket of his black suit pants, Ben is strolling toward us.
“I’m just trying to explain to Jayce that I refuse to be a wife from the fifties,” I sum up.
“Why?” he retorts in a high-pitched voice, as though I’m being insane stating something like that. “If reincarnation exists, I’d definitely want to come back as one of those. Some cleaning in the morning, wiping some snotty noses while chatting up with other housewives at the park in the afternoon, fixing up some food in the evening, and going grocery shopping once a week. I mean, what’s not to like?”
“Oh my God, Ben. You should consider shutting up sometimes,” Colleen sighs, sounding drained just for having to listen to him.
His expression takes on a mischievous glee as he grins and slides a hand out of his pocket to point a finger at her. “It’s you I came to see. You got a minute?”
Her eyes narrow on him with a suspicious frown. “What do you want?”
“Damn,” he shakes his head. “I take back what I said. No way do I want to come back as a woman. Must be exhausting to question everything every damn time. Now, would you please just come with me for five short minutes?”
“Okay, I’m coming,” she accepts to follow him, holding her hands up. “Don’t get your panties in a twist. Only women do that,” she smirks as she walks away with him.
Camryn waits a moment before speaking. “I wonder when they’ll quit this little game they play and get together.”
“Soon,” I state.
“Neither of you is objective,” Nate barges in. “You want your best friend to come live in the same state you do,” he tells Cam before he turns his eyes on me. “And you want your editor free of her day job.”
“I suddenly feel very self-interested,” I fake offense.
“Just kidding, little one,” he chuckles.
“Well, I do want Colleen the editor without a day job if it means Alex can work more on her writing and quit her day job before the next decade,” Jayce confesses easily.
“Jesus,” I blurt out. “First of all, it’s me who’s writing the books, not Colleen. That means she only gets something to edit if I have something written. And, again, I’m safe at work,” I groan what I’ve repeated countless times over the past few weeks. “And if I get hurt, at least I’m already inside a hospital, right?” I joke.
Camryn’s face contorting into a grimace in front of me and Jayce’s arm stiffening around my waist gives me a clear idea of how hard his eyes must be as they burn in the top of my head.
“Okay, so me and my funny jokes are going to head inside to pee,” I add quickly.
Turning around, I place a quick kiss on Jayce’s lips, and he loosens his hold on me to let me out of his embrace. I walk to the patio door and enter the living room a few seconds later.
The TV is running even though no one is watching it, and I briefly scan the room. Liam is leaning against a wall as Erin is talking to him while fidgeting with the hem of her silky red dress, Melvin and Cody are playing foosball with Jonas and Max in another corner of the room, and I can hear Fiona and Lilly’s voices coming from the kitchen. I walk in the opposite direction, toward the bathroom, but my hand pauses on the doorknob when I make out Colleen’s voice coming from the guestroom right next door.
“You bought me a kitten?”
He what?
Even if all I can see of the room is a piece of the gray wall and the corner of the black chest of drawers, I know she’s talking to Ben.
“You told me you always wanted one growing up, but you and your mom were moving around too much for that. You’re not moving around anymore. And I know that you don’t feel at home in New York, but it doesn’t matter. If you move away at some point, the cat will adjust just fine because it’s with you. So, happy birthday,” he says.
Happy birthday? When the hell is her birthday. Today? And why didn’t I know about it? If she and Cam kept this a secret because of my wedding, I’m going to kick their asses.
“You bought me a kitten,” she stammers the same words, though it’s no longer a question.
As quietly as possible, I take a couple of steps to get closer to the ajar door.
“Technically, you are the one who adopted the kitten. But I bought everything you’ll need for her. Litter, food, comfy cat bed, collar, and a bunch of things the woman at the shelter told me you’d need for her. And some toys, too. Most of it is back at the club. I just brought the carrier, the litter and some food here.”
“It’s a girl, then?”
When Ben replies, there’s no mistaking his playful tone. “I didn’t want you to live with a guy.”
She laughs, and I wish I could just barge in there when she says, “She’s so cute. Thank you.”
For the longest time, silence is all I can hear except for some clicking sound, and then the kitten is mewling.
“See? She loves you already,” Ben states at last.
I think that Colleen retorts something, but I can’t catch the words because at the same time, someone is whispering against my ear, “Tell me you’re not spying on someone screwing in that room.”
Jayce’s quiet voice startles me, but thankfully, I can hold back a shriek.
“You scared me!” I whisper-yell, but he only smirks. “Ben bought Colleen a kitten for her birthday. Did you know it’s her birthday?”
“Nope. Today?” he asks, still lowering his voice.
I shrug. “I don’t know. But he bought her a kitten because she always wanted one when she was a kid. Can you believe it?”
Flatly, he answers, “I believe that Ben has done stranger things than that. Remember the day he tried to ride Jonas’s tricycle down the stairs to get to the warehouse faster?”
With a hand in front of my mouth, I smother my laugh. “He dislocated his shoulder, I remember. But that wasn’t strange, it was stupid,” I correct him. “Fortunately, he’s grown up a little since he was twenty.”
Before I can go back to trying to figure out what’s going on with the two of them and the unexpected kitten, I’m being dragged away by Jayce until we’re locked inside the second bedroom of the cabin.
“What are you doing? I need to pee,” I laugh as he cages me against the door, his body pressed against mine.
He really is sexy with his loose tie and his sleeves rolled up under his elbows.
“You didn’t seem to be in a hurry a minute ago,” he points out while his palm runs down my bare arm and back up my stomach. “I’m not sure I’ll be able to wait much longer to take this dress off of you.”
“There are people just a few feet away, you’re crazy!” I hiss. “You can have me naked just as soon as they’re gone.”
He doesn’t give up. “Then what about a quick fuck with your dress on?” he suggests. “That sounds hot, too.”
His lips an inch away from brushing mine, he smiles against my mouth. “And you love it,” he states rightfully before kissing me.
My mouth willingly opens for him, and when he lifts up my dress, careful not to do any damage, I let him. I’ve never been able to say no to my man, and I’m not going to even try now. Being with him has always been like a primary need. In his arms, I feel serene and wanted, and it’s impossible to turn away from those feelings. I can’t believe that I’ll get to have that every day from now on. It’s now official. I’m going to spend the rest of my life with the man who gives it meaning.
The End
Author’s note
Thank you so much for reading JAYCE! I hope you enjoyed his and Alex’s story.
Coming up:
BEN (The Chaos Chasers #3): MARCH/APRIL 2019.
LIAM (The Chaos Chasers #4): SUMMER 2019.
BLANE (The Chaos Chasers #5): AUTUMN 2019.
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C.M. Marin.