“You alright old chap?” Davy grins at me and I grind my jaw to keep silent.
“You’re looking tired. Age catching up with you?”
“Or maybe someone spent half the night in the bathroom, in pain.” Garret says pityingly. “You quite alright old man?”
That catches imps attention and her eyes zoom my way, their focus so intent I find myself squirming beneath a blush. Bloody bastards are intimating I was in the bathroom rubbing things out while in fact-
“Are you sick?”
I shake my head no and glare at the little buggers, daring them to say another word. I should know bloody better.
“Well, it was either the green apple nasties or holding the sausage hostage.” Davy points out reasonably, though I see the little upstart biting his cheeks to keep from laughing outright.
Imp meanwhile is gazing at them like they’re idiots before turning to me with an expression of deep concern.
“Logan ate some bad Thai food once and spent the night on the toilet while his head was in a bucket. It came out both ends and I swear he lost three pounds before the sun came up. Do you have cramps? You need fluids if you lost a lot last night.”
That sets up a round of cackling that has my teeth on edge before the little dear comes back with a bottle of water, salt and sugar.
“I’m gonna make you some electrolytes so you can replace what you lost.”
“Yeah, we don’t want the old bag empty do we mate.” Ryan tosses out on a wheeze.
“Stop being so insensitive you jerks! Puking is horrible. Are you gonna laugh at me when I look like this in the mornings! Shut up right now!” she hisses, gently petting my brow after giving me a truly horrid concoction to swallow down.
I manage half before my empty stomach revolts but force myself to finish when she smiles sweetly at me and continues to rub her fingers through my hair.
“There now, you’ll feel all better. You should go lie down for a while and I’ll come and check on you.” She croons, petting my head before shooing me away to rest.
I pause and lean against the wall that leads to the stairs, ignoring my stomach as it whines for food and hear the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard; my imp laying into the three buggers.
“That was awful! How could you try to embarrass him that way?”
“But hun, we never said he had the trots-”
“No, you were inferring that he spent all night rubbing one out!” she yells and things go so quiet I hear her breathe. “What you think I’m too naïve to know what Holding the sausage hostage means? I went to college and my roommate was an exchange student from Bristol! I know more indecent slang than you think.”
I almost choke on my tongue when she starts listing them and then I have to bite my lip when I peak around the corner and see three very red faces looking back at her in horror.
“Let’s see. Buffing the banana, Jackin’ the beanstalk, spank the frank and then one of my personal favourites tickling the pickle.” She says, ticking off each with a finger. “You think anyone’s naïve enough not to get ‘holding the sausage hostage’? Puleeze you wanker, I was learning this shit while you were still growing your apples! Now eat your breakfast and get ready for school.”
I forego breakfast and make my way upstairs with a smile because my imp, my girl, has just defended me to those tossers and that can only mean one thing; I have a bloody fighting chance and I think I’ll take it thank you very much.
***
Becky
It’s so hard not to laugh at the looks of horror as all three lads, and by ‘lads’ I mean three huge, strapping lady killers, look at me, their mouths hanging open in shock.
So yeah, maybe I’d almost swallowed my tongue when the doofuses had started ribbing him about masturbating all night and then when they’d started in about diarrhoea I’d almost cracked and told them I understand a lot more British lingo than they think, but the look on Devon’s face!
Priceless!
“Beck-”
“Oh keep your drawers on boys. I have four brothers and my roommate in college had a potty mouth ten feet deep and crammed with these gems. I don’t have a problem with you guys talking like guys I just don’t want to have to laugh at your brother every time you all think you’re being cute. Now someone go give that man breakfast in bed so I can skedaddle my butt out of here.”
I accept three looks of utter astonishment and bow low when they whistle and shake their heads in awe.
“Blimey, she’s a keeper this one.”
“Aye Ryan, she’ll get all that crap about staying away from love right out of his thick head.”
I don’t understand a word being said between them and even less of the silent looks they keep sharing but I can’t ask now, no matter how curious I am about those cryptic statements. I have shit to do and a small window of time to get them done or the big bad wolf upstairs is gonna come back down before I can make my escape.
“Where you off to then lass?” I hear from Garret and pause at the kitchen door, breathing through the fear I haven’t allowed myself to feel since waking this morning and making my decision.
I don’t want to do this, God, I’ve been avoiding it like the plague ergo my week of shutting myself in and only showering when I absolutely had to drag myself from bed.
But this is not something I have a choice about and I know that the longer I put it off the worse it’ll go for me so I square my shoulders and toss off a cocky grin I don’t feel and probably don’t pull off if their expressions are anything to go by.
“I have to go see a man about a horse. Or donkey as the case may be. See you guys later.”
I drive around for ten minutes, aimless and desperate as the lump of fear and resentment settles low in my belly and creeps its way to my chest, making it tight and hard to breathe. When I think I can safely do what I need to without becoming a screaming wreck I flick on my indicator and swing around, keeping myself from turning back for the second time.
I park and climb from the car, taking deep breaths through my nose and straightening my spine when the door opens and mama yanks me into the hall, her sweet rose scent wrapping around me with her arms and the heat of her maternal love.
“Lordy girl, where have you been? Your daddy’s been having a conniption for days and then Grey called and the man’s been stomping around like a bear with a mangled paw ever since.”
I don’t get a chance to answer when she starts in about the girls at the country club and the bake sale and so many different things it’s a wonder the woman has time to bush her teeth never mind run my dad’s life and poke her nose into the lives of her five children.
“Mama. Mama!” I say louder, checking my watch to see I’ve been here thirty minutes with nothing to show for it but her chatter and obviously nervous looks. “Where’s dad?”
“Becky bear…I, maybe you should come back another day so I can calm-”
“Where is he mama?”
I can do this, no I have to do this, I think, watching my mama’s face flush before draining of colour, her shoulders drooping tiredly. So that’s the way the wind blows huh?
There are a few things I should say about dad. He’s a great father and never hesitated to go to bat for any of us while we were growing up. The man spent as much time with us as humanly possible while still running a company and keeping my mama in check, heck, he came to every one of my meets and recitals till I quit that stuff the year I realized my chubby ass in a leotard was the reason for all the covert laughing from my ‘friends’.
My dad is great, he just doesn’t understand that every one of his kids have plans for their lives that don’t necessarily coincide with his. In short dad is the kind of father who uses guilt and then the threat of being disowned to keep his cubs in line.
I’ve never wanted to disappoint him, hence my miserable existence since I left high school and took up the path he had plotted for me, but since this is my life and I’m already knee deep in the proverbial poo thanks to
my foolishness and Devon’s super sperm, I have to do at least one thing for myself, even if it means he’ll kick me to the curb and break my heart.
“In his office, but…please do this another day. He just got through having words with Grey about Logan and then Jet called and-”
“Mama, I need to talk to him. And you. So get your skinny butt in there with me please.”
She takes my tone well, though I know she can see my shame as we make our way to the office and I knock once, pushing the door open with a swallow of bile that threatens to have me heaving before the words can spill free.
“Beck? What you doing here girl?”
Everything. Nothing. Maybe stealing myself to get my heart ripped out, but I have to do it and be a grown up for once instead of allowing my family to coddle me while I live out an existence I never wanted. Devon was right all those weeks ago; I have to let go and it has to start here, with dad and his too high expectations.
“I need to talk to you and mama about…about what’s going on with my life.” I say softly, sitting at the edge of the seat in front of his desk.
“Grey already called me about you quitting that job with Abi. Don’t worry sugar I’ll call Judge Flynn and get you in there while you’re-”
“No.”
Oh hell.
“I don’t want a job at JudgeFlynn’s and I don’t want-”
“He’s the best judge in the state and he’s got a list a mile long of interns waiting-”
“I don’t want a job at his offices because I’m quitting law dad!” I yell, wringing my hands when his jaw drops and he focuses on me, really focuses.
“Come again.”
Oh glory be, this is not how I wanted things to be but if I’m honest it’s exactly how I suspected they would be. Logan hadn’t fared any better so how could I imagine-
“Bullshit! You spent six years of your life working toward this goal. You’ve always wanted-”
“No dad, you wanted this not me. I just didn’t have the guts to tell you before now.” I whisper, feeling tears coat my eyes when he takes a deep breath and his face closes, the mask firmly in place.
It’s strange and so totally heart-breaking when he looks down his nose at me and gives me the very same stare he’d given Lo, the same stare that says he no longer considers me part of his fold unless I buckle under and conform.
“Reconsider Rebecca, please or I will be forced to-”
“Measure your words old man or you will never see her again.”
Gasping I twist my head and see Devon leaning casually against the door frame, his hands shoved deep into his pockets. To anyone who doesn’t know him he looks relaxed and bored but I see the fire banked in those eyes and I know that if not for the presence of my mama and me Devon would revert to the ruthless shark Grey has called him on many an occasion.
“Look here boy, who do you think you are coming in her and telling me how to speak to my girl?”
“That’s just the thing ain’t it mate? She isn’t yours anymore, she’s mine and I won’t have you upsetting her.” He drawls softly, ambling over to run a hand through my hair, stopping to clasp my nape and lend me some of his strength.
“Yours? Not fucking hardly! My daughter knows better than to shack up with an English social climber like you. What? You think I don’t know how you used my boy to get your hands in a few pies this side of the ocean? I know everything that happens with my children and I know exactly how the two of you have been conducting business all these years.”
Oookay.
“You come from nothing, just like your parents and you think-”
“He doesn’t think dad, he knows.” I say, standing to my feet with a strength born of pure rage and disgust.
My dad is not this asshole he’s trying to be and we all know it. Something is most definitely up with him, something I need to know but for right now I have to let it go and do what I came here to do. And I need to make one thing very clear.
Not just to him but Devon as well because though he’s keeping things together nicely I can see the hurt lurking in his eyes at dad’s words.
“I’ve been with Devon for months now dad. We’re in love. We’re…going to have a bay.” I say, swallowing loudly when I feel him tense beneath the hand I lay on his chest. “I’d really like for you to be a part of our lives but if you can’t accept what I want, if you can’t accept him and his family, I’m sorry.” I say, my voice trembling at the end. “They’re my family.”
I don’t cry when he looks at me with disappointment. I don’t cry when Devon takes my hand and leads me out of the house and to his car. I don’t cry when mama stops at the door and watches us leave without a word.
“Imp.”
“Not now. Please.” I beg, staring sightlessly out of the window as the view rushes by, my heart breaking a little more with every mile. “Something’s up with them, something iffy and I need to know what it is before I let my hurt feelings take over and I say some things that I can’t take back. Call Grey.”
Chapter Nineteen
Dev
I feel helpless and I hate the feeling, something I swore to myself I would never feel after identifying my parents’ bodies and watching them lowered into the ground.
I’ve spent the last years raising three men and building myself and my business into something more than formidable but this, this is not something I know how to fix.
It’s been bloody weeks since the day imp told her father to screw off, well, not in so many words but that was the gist since she’s effectively chosen me and mine over her own kin and she still isn’t talking.
That’s why I feel so helpless and adrift. The bloody beautiful rascal had not only stood up to her father, a man she looked up to, but she’d claimed me and mine and drawn a definite line in the sand where her family is concerned.
I don’t quite know what to do with that since I feel as if the only thing to trump her declaration would be one of my own. One that I cannot honestly make right now because while I adore imp I don’t think I love her love her. Not yet.
I can’t risk my heart that way, not until she’s baring my name and my ring and is so tied to me she won’t be able to move. I’ve fast come to realize that a baby does not a guarantee make and that I have no hold on her past the deal we made two months ago.
What if I swear myself to her and she up and leaves because she wants more than a family filled with sweaty men with even dirtier mouths and a love of sports?
That’s a risk I cannot take. Cowardly but true, I need her to commit before I can let go of the uncertainty I feel and give her what she deserves.
“Bleeding hell! Oh bleeding fucking hell!” I hear from the kitchen table, looking up from the stew I’m making for dinner to see Davy spring back from the table, his face white with shock.
The laptop he’d been eyeballing is slammed shut with a resounding thump and he backs away from it with a look of terror that would be frightening if not for the comical horror I see lining his face.
“You watched that shite?”
“Yeah.”
I stir the stew and keep my grin in place though truth be told I feel a bit green myself just remembering. That’s why I’d downloaded it to all three laptops and ordered Davy, Ry and Garret to watch the thing ‘in case’ anything happened and we needed to be knowledgeable in an emergency.
It’s terrible but I refuse to be the only male in this house walking around with those images plaguing my mind. As they say, misery loves company.
The added bonus might be that maybe now Davy and the lads will learn to keep their dicks in their trousers and think twice about forgoing protection.
I know I feel that way just looking at my poor imp and I’ve already let that bloody ship sail and am currently navigating it out to the deep oceans.
“But, but how do they survive that shite? Did you see how big…” he retches once and swallows, going even paler. “And no human being should survive that much blood loss.”
&n
bsp; I nod, stirring the stew rhythmically and steadfastly ignoring the memory of that bleeding video imp had forced on me. Bloody cruel female that one.
She hardly speaks to me but this she has no trouble with?
“Oh Christ. Oh bleeding fecking no! I am never-”
“Tupping a lass without a condom. Not ever. Never. Not-”
“We get the picture lad, believe you me, we get it.” I say, choking on a laugh when Ry and Garett both fall into a chair and eye me through pale faces and thin lips.
“You did that to our hun and now.”
“She’s going to have her lady parts ravaged because.”
“You’re a bleeding animal with no self-control!”
All three. Traitors.
Though to be fair they are right. In a little under four months my little imp is going to be subjected to child birth, the very same gory ordeal we’ve all seen in that birthing video she shoved my way with a snarled ‘get a good look at what your dick’s doing to me’.
I haven’t so much as touched her since she stomped out of the car until very recently when she’d started snuggling into me in front of the TV and falling asleep on my lap. No sex though, but I’ve come to realize that I’ll take a good snuggle with her any day over a quick tumble and-I have to stop thinking about rolling around with imp or I’ll embarrass myself and be walking around hard for the rest of the night.
“Where is imp anyway?” Davy asks, pushing his laptop away with a shudder.
“She wants to lunch with Lila and then they’re supposed to be shopping for…” I don’t repeat the vile things she’d said about maternity wear but shudder a little when I finish. “Jeans with elastic waist bands.”
It doesn’t bug me that her jeans have elastic waists but what does make my balls shrivel are the scathing threats she’d thrown my way before stomping out of the door and huffing her way to Lila’s Mercedes.
She’s gone mental since her bump started expanding and no amount of compliments from me or the lads, not to mention my growing obsession with touching her and or, but mostly and, seeing her naked, will convince the chit that she’s one sexy waddling mama.
Wyatt (Lane Brothers #1) Page 79