He glanced from me to the floorboard and back again before aiming his gaze at the road and mumbling, “Uh-huh. Sure.”
I swallowed the last of the candy bar and washed it down with more soda. “Hey!” I snapped, pointing at my feet. “I’m not a pig. That’s just where I’m stashing the trash accumulated during the trip before we pull over somewhere and I can throw it out. Another rule of the road: designate one place for garbage.”
“Yeah,” he chuckled. “That explain the Big Mac containers, gum wrappers, and empty water bottles scattered in the back? You go on another road trip I didn’t know about?”
I turned to the back seat to see that he might’ve had a point, but I wasn’t going to admit that. Instead, I shot him a glare and crossed my arms over my chest. “I can’t be perfect in every aspect of my life, thank you very much.”
He smiled at the windshield as he turned the car into my parents’ neighborhood. “True enough, baby. At least you’re cute as hell. Makes this sty more acceptable.”
“Whatever,” I muttered. “Can you drive any faster? I gotta pee so bad my eyeballs are floating.”
He burst into laughter. “Man, someone gets cranky when we reach hour twelve,” he needled playfully. “Remind me to dose you with Nyquil or something on the way home.”
“Shut up,” I snarked, but I couldn’t stop the smile from stretching across my face.
We finally pulled up in front of my parents’ house, and the front door swung open before Mace had the car in Park.
“Mom!” I shouted excitedly as I jumped out of the car and dashed up the front walk. We ran into an embraced like we hadn’t seen each other in years. “I missed you.”
“Missed you too, baby. I’m so happy to see you.”
After a long hug where we swayed back and forth, we finally pulled apart. “Daddy!” I cried, launching myself into his arms.
“Hey there, baby girl. Glad to have you home. How was the trip down?”
“Enlightening,” Mace answered, coming up behind me. “Good to see you again, Mr. Tolliver.” He reached for my dad’s hand, shaking it before moving to my mom and giving her a hug. “Mrs. Tolliver.”
“Oh please,” she chastised lightheartedly. “If we’ve told you once, we’ve told you a thousand times. You’re family, sweetheart. No need for such formality. We’re Cindy and Jon to you.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Mace replied with a charming smile.
“So,” Dad cut in. “She eat everything she could get her hands on between here and Seattle?”
“Dad!” I shouted, but before I could stop him, Mace chimed in.
“How someone so small can pack away that much junk blows my mind.”
“Mace!”
“Tell me about it,” Dad laughed. “Any time we took a family vacation, I worried she’d eat us broke before we even got to where we were goin’. And the mess. Dear Lord, could the girl make a mess.”
Mace and Dad barked with laughter as I scowled on, but the corners of my mouth trembled in an effort to fight a smile.
Who would’ve thought a road trip with Mason Keller could be so much fun?
Chapter Twenty-Five
Mace
The first night in the Tolliver home went great. Lyla flourished under the care and attention of her parents. It was obvious she’d missed them like crazy, and I was glad I’d suggested coming for a couple days to visit, and that I was able to help bring that golden glow back to those beautiful honey eyes.
We stayed up late hanging out and playing dominos with her folks. Finally, when both of us started struggling to keep our eyes open after such a long drive, Cynthia and Jon sent us both upstairs with our bags. Lyla was set up in her old room, and I was in Will’s, which had thankfully been converted into a guest room. I don’t think I’d have been able to sleep with all of Will’s stuff around me.
It took me a long time to find sleep as it was. What I had to do on this trip was weighing heavily on my mind and heart.
I lay on my back in the bed, staring up at the ceiling as I struggled to quiet my mind, but it just wasn’t happening. Deciding on another route, I clasped my palms together and rested them on my stomach. Then I started talking.
“Hope you can hear me, brother,” I said quietly into the darkness. “I know she’s your sister, Will, but I love her. I’ll do right by her. I swear that to you. I’d never do anything to hurt either of you, I hope you know that.” I stopped, waiting for god only knew—a sign, something to prove to me that my best friend was listening. “Miss you, brother. Every goddamn day. Miss you like I would a piece of me. I hope you trust me enough to know I’ll take care of her, and I pray you know I’ll earn the privilege of having her every day of my life if she’ll let me.”
A few more minutes ticked by before I started to drift again, and a little while later I was out.
That was last night, now it was the next morning. I’d woken up and hopped in the shower before dressing and heading for Lyla’s room. The door was open, the room empty, so I moved down the steps toward the sound of voices coming from the kitchen.
“Morning, sweetie,” Cindy greeted. She stood at the stove flipping pancakes on the griddle while Jon sat at the table drinking a cup of coffee and reading the paper. He’d always been old school like that, refusing to give up the hard copy he could hold in his hand to reading them electronically. “You hungry?”
I looked at the huge spread lining the counter beside her. Bacon, eggs, sausage, pancakes, and three different kinds of syrup. “Well I wasn’t until I smelled all this. Now I’m starved. Thanks.”
“Of course. Coffee’s on.” She tipped her chin in the direction of the pot. “Mugs in the cabinet above. You know where the sugar and stuff is, so help yourself.”
“Thanks again.” I planted a kiss on her cheek as I passed and went to make myself a cup of coffee. “Lyla in the shower?”
“She woke up and headed into the garage,” Jon answered. “Said she had some stuff to take care of with Stone.”
I rounded the counter and took a seat across from Jon at the table. He folded the paper carefully, placing it on the wooden surface in front of him, and rested his elbows on the arms of his chair as he looked at me. “How is she?” he asked.
I took in his demeanor. His was the position of a man about to get serious, a man who cared about his daughter and was struggling to hide his concern.
I set my coffee mug down and gave him my full attention. “She’s good, Jon. She’s been talkin’ about takin’ graduate classes. I think she’s happy.”
His relief was visible. His shoulders relaxed, and he sat back more comfortably in the chair. “Good. I feel better knowing you’re there to take care of her.”
Leaning in, I braced my forearms on the table and dove right into the topic I’d been gearing up for the whole trip here. “I’m glad you think that, because I’m in love with your daughter.”
His back went straight at the same time the spatula clattered on the stove. I looked over to Cindy to find her turning all the burners off before scurrying to take the chair beside her husband.
Pulling in a deep, fortifying breath, I continued on. “If I’m being honest, I’ve loved her since the first time I met her. I fought it because I knew it wasn’t right—”
“Not right?” Cindy cut in. “Sweetheart, what are you talking about?”
“It’s just… I know I have a reputation. But I’d never, never do anything to hurt Lyla. She means everything to me. I want you to know that.”
“We know,” Jon replied definitively. “We’ve always known that, son. We’re just glad you finally realized it.”
“I… what?”
Cindy’s giggle sounded just like her daughter’s as she leaned in to Jon and placed a hand on his arm. “It’s sweet how young people can be so clueless nowadays,” she told him before turning back to me. “Mace, honey, we’ve known for years that you and Lyla were it for each other.”
“True, we weren’t too excited about it when you
were twenty and our baby girl was only fifteen, but you did right by not going there then,” Jon added. “Gotta say, son, I’m shocked it took you this long.”
“I—but….” The conversation had totally gotten away from me. I’d lost track of where I was heading and veered completely off course into uncharted territory. “Will was my brother. I didn’t want to disrespect him.”
“Disrespect him?” Cindy asked, her forehead creasing in confusion. “How would that be disrespecting him?”
My gut twisted into uncomfortable knots. Unable to meet their eyes, I looked down into my coffee mug as I answered, “I knew he wouldn’t want me for her.”
Silence descended on the table for a good two minutes before her soft voice sounded. “Mace, honey. Please look at me.”
When I finally found the courage to turn my eyes back to them, hers, the same beautiful gold as her daughter’s, were shining with unshed tears. Jon’s throat bobbed as he gripped his wife’s hand like a lifeline.
“Will loved you,” she whispered. “He loved you so much, Mace. You and the rest of the guys were always more than just friends. You were his family. He saw how you treated his sister like she was the finest china. He saw how you handled her with care, and he wanted you for her. There wasn’t a single doubt in his mind that you were the best man out there for her.”
I opened my mouth to respond, but it was impossible. My throat tightened painfully, the lump that had formed making it impossible to speak.
“Broke his heart the day Daniel put that ring on his little sister’s finger,” Jon continued. “He’d had it in his head since you were kids that one day it’d be you and Lyla. Never could understand why you kept our girl at arm’s length.”
“I didn’t….” Christ, this hurts. “I didn’t think—”
Cynthia reached across the table and placed her hand on top on mine. “Do not doubt for one single second that my boy is looking down on us right now, happy as can be. Not one second, you hear me?”
“I didn’t know,” I managed to croak past the emotion lodged in my throat, threatening to choke me. “I wish I’d known.”
“Don’t do that, son,” Jon demanded. “Don’t do that to yourself. Let go of regret. Doesn’t do anyone any good, so let it go. You hear me?” I gave him a nod even though I wasn’t feeling it. “You hold on to the fact that Will loved you and held you in such high regard that he wanted you for the one person on this earth who meant everything to him. That’s what you need to concentrate on. Nothing else matters. Not a single damn thing.”
I tried my best to hold them back. Christ, I tried so damn hard, but two tears managed to break through and slip down my cheeks before I could catch them. The second they did, Cynthia got up and closed the distance, bent at the waist, and wrapped me in her arms.
“I miss him,” I whispered, my voice ravaged.
“We all do, honey.” She sniffled, her own tears bleeding into the fabric of my T-shirt. “And we always will. But we have each other. He gave us that, so we’ll make it through.”
The embrace seemed to last forever, and we finally broke apart when the sound of Jon’s chair scraping across the tile floor sounded through the room. Cynthia stood tall, wiping at her cheeks with the back of her hand. I shifted my focus to the other side of the table and watched as Jon, his eyes rimmed in red as he fought to control his own emotions, came close and placed his hand on my shoulder.
“He was taken from us too soon.” He paused to clear his throat before carrying on. “That kind of loss stays with a person. But every day we had him was a blessing, and those memories can never be taken from us. You hold on to those memories. I know I will. My son was a good man. He had a big heart, and he gave us you. He gave you Lyla. Don’t squander that gift, yeah?”
I clapped my hand on his and gave it a firm squeeze. “Yes, sir.”
He sniffed and nodded, releasing my shoulder to give it a pat. “Good,” he whispered raggedly. “Good. Now I’m starvin’, woman,” he said to his wife. “Feed me before I waste away to nothin’.”
And just like that, the heavy pall that had been hanging over us lifted and life went back to normal. Then again, I shouldn’t have expected anything else. Will was the man he was because of the two people who’d raised him.
“Such a pain in my backside,” Cynthia muttered with a roll of her eyes, but there was no missing the smile that tugged at her lips as she headed back to the stove.
“You need a warm-up?” Jon asked, tipping his chin to my mug.
“Yes, sir.”
As Cynthia went back to cooking and Jon got me a fresh cup, I lifted my eyes to the ceiling and thought, Love you, brother. Thanks for making me a part of something so special.
And, I swear to Christ, I felt a warmth bloom across my skin just then like the sun was beaming down on me. I knew, I just knew my brother was looking down on me at that very second, and just like Cynthia said, he was happy as could be.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Lyla
I was sitting in the office of the garage, a place that was no longer mine. While my heart clenched at that realization, I felt a lightness I hadn’t in a really long time. I loved this place. I loved the guys, I loved the smells of gasoline and motor oil—as odd as that seemed—but saying goodbye to it just felt… right.
“You sure about this, dollface?” Stone asked from his place in the chair across from me, his motorcycle boot–clad feet propped up on the scuffed desk. “You know I’m happy to have you here.”
Giving him a warm smile, I replied, “I know that. But this feels good. And just because I won’t be part owner anymore doesn’t mean I won’t come visit to give you shit. You aren’t getting rid of me that easily.”
He chuckled and dropped his feet, the boots thumping against the floor as he leaned forward. “I’ll hold you to that, sweetheart. The bastards around here need a pretty face to keep ’em in line. And if you’re happy, then I’m happy for you. Will’d be happy you’re finally doin’ something for you, and I feel the same goddamn way.”
My smile turned into a smirk as I murmured, “Hard as stone, my ass. You’re a big ol’ softy.”
“Baby, I’m anything but soft,” he joked, causing me to curl my lip in disgust.
“Ew, gross! Not an image I wanted in my head!” I cried.
Stone was wickedly hot, there was no doubt about it. He had that look that screamed dangerous mainly because he was. But there wasn’t anything there between us. He was to me what the other guys—with the exception of Mace—were. Big, protective brother types. And I was nothing more than a sister to him. He had a type that was so far from me it wasn’t even funny. I knew because the man could draw women in just by looking at them, and he’d done it countless times.
Stone went for buxom brunettes who weren’t afraid to flaunt what they had, which meant plenty of cleavage and lots of leg. They tended to boarder on skank, but owned the look and didn’t give two shits what others thought of them. He was in the mood to get him a little somethin’ somethin’ all he had to do was hit the woman of interest with that smirk and quirk his finger at them, and they came running.
He chuckled deep in his throat. “You know I love messin’ with you, dollface. But don’t let any of the assholes out there know I’m nothin’ more than a big teddy bear. I’ll never get ’em to do shit.”
I let loose a giggle. “Your secret’s safe with me. Besides, I’m pretty sure that teddy bear side of you is designated only for a handful of people. I’m just lucky I’m one of them.”
My cell phone pinged, and I pulled it from my purse to check my texts. When I pulled up the screen, I couldn’t stop the smile that stretched across my face.
Mace: Missed seeing your pretty face when I woke up. You gonna be gone long?
My thumbs flew along the letters as I typed out a response.
Lyla: Just finishing up at the garage now. My friend Ava wants to meet for lunch, so I’ll be back after that… unless you want to join us?
Mace: Nah, I’m cool here with your folks. Enjoy your time with your girl. I’ll see you when you get back.
“That your guy?” Stone asked, pulling my attention from the phone in my hand.
“He’s not my guy,” I replied as I tucked it back into my purse.
One of his brows arced up. “He know that?”
“It isn’t like that,” I insisted, even though saying it sent a pain shooting through my chest. “We’re just friends, that’s all.”
His hands went up in a placating gesture. “If you say so. But when you finally pull your head outta that cute little ass of yours, I’ll be right here to say, ‘I told you so.’”
I shot him a playful glare and pushed to my feet. “If you say so, ya big softy. I gotta get going.”
He lifted up from his seat and came close, wrapping me in a tight hug. “It was good seein’ you, dollface. Don’t be a stranger.”
“I won’t,” I answered, returning the embrace just as tightly. Saying goodbye, even temporarily, was never easy. “You take care of this place, yeah?”
“You got my word, sweetheart.”
Somehow I managed not to cry as I exited the office, got in my car, and pulled from the lot.
Yep. Saying goodbye totally sucks.
Ava squealed loudly as soon as she cleared the restaurant door and spotted me. Instead of being embarrassed that she’d drawn so much attention from the other patrons, I stood, made a similar sound, and rushed my BFF. We hopped in place while holding on to each other.
“Oh my God!” she cried, stepping back but keeping hold of my arms as she gave me a once-over. “I’ve missed you like crazy, babe! You look amazing!”
“You too,” I replied. “God, it’s good to see you.”
I led her to my table and we both sat. I sipped my water as she ordered a chardonnay before turning back to me. “I’m so glad you’re here,” she said softly, reaching across the table and taking my hand. “So talk, tell me what’s been going on. How’s life living with a sexy rocker? I wanna know it all.”
Ravage (Civil Corruption Book 4) Page 16