by Piper Rayne
“Then be the ‘number one dad’ mug kinda guy,” my dad says.
Jed blows out a breath, shoots the basketball—missing his shot by five feet—and spots me from the corner of his eye. “Am I being ambushed?”
I grab the basketball and dribble around.
“You’re not being ambushed,” I say, shooting and scoring.
My dad grabs the ball.
Jed puts his hands on his hips, his head falling forward in defeat. “I’m gonna fuck her up.”
“You’re not gonna fuck her up,” I say.
He peeks up through his long eyelashes. The ones women go crazy over. The same ones Emilia has. “My dad fucked me up. Fucked us all up.”
I throw him the ball and he catches it. “Sure, but we straightened your sorry ass out.”
Jed chuckles, but I know we’re far from making progress.
Hank sighs. “Having your mother do all the parenting on your behalf isn’t going to make it any easier on you.”
Jed shoots and misses again. “I can’t even make a fucking basket.”
“You’re being way too hard on yourself.” My dad grabs the rebound and shoots it. “When Laurie died, I wasn’t the best dad I could be. I sulked, and when I was done sulking, I was yelling because I was so pissed at what the world did to me.”
“How could her mother name me on the birth certificate and never tell me? If she’d lived, I never would’ve known my daughter.”
And there’s another reason Jed’s struggling so much.
“I’m so pissed at her mother, but at the same time, Emilia’s suffering from the loss.” Jed squats and runs his hand through his hair. “I’m so fucking lost I have no clue what to do.”
I put the basketball down and sit on the concrete driveway with him.
My dad joins us a minute later. “It’s not gonna be easy, Jed. But you have to put down your walls. Kids don’t understand walls. They don’t understand guilt trips and grudges.”
Jed doesn’t bother looking up. Not out of disrespect for my dad, but growing up, Jed didn’t have the best role model. His father praised him, bought him whatever he wanted. During senior year, that meant buying off the coach so Jed could be quarterback. Screwed me over, but that’s under the rug now. I only see Jed as my brother and best friend. But his dad was just empty promises because under it all, he was selfish and did whatever he wanted at the expense of his family.
I say, “I know you didn’t plan on having kids right now. That you might—”
He picks up his head and looks me square in the eye. “I never planned on having kids—ever. I’m not like you, Cade. I don’t want a wife or a kid or any of that shit.”
His words pierce me like the tip of a blade. How did I never know that?
“You’re letting your pain from the past speak for your future.” My dad puts a hand on Jed’s shoulder.
Jed shrugs it off and stands. “This has nothing to do with my dad. I couldn’t give a shit about him. Thanks for the talk, boys, but I got this handled all by myself.”
He stalks away, and my dad looks at me once Jed’s rounded the house. “I swear to God, I’m not raising another kid. Once Rylan’s out of the house, we’re done.”
My dad stands and disappears into the backyard. I stand and brush off my ass. I know Dad doesn’t mean it in a mean way, but he’s spent the majority of his life raising kids. Starting over if Jed doesn’t take on his responsibility is a possibility, because there’s no way Marla would let go of her granddaughter. Nor should she. The only solution is for Jed to step the fuck up.
“Hey, you.” Presley comes around the corner. “Your dad’s face is all red and he looks mad.”
She slides her arms around my waist, and I pull her to me, kissing her forehead. “He’s mad at Jed.”
How could Jed not want this? This feeling of having someone in your arms that you love so much you can’t breathe at the thought of losing them? I get his problem. I had to overcome some shit because of my mom dying and not wanting to put my heart out there, but the reward is worth it. I tighten my hold on Presley and she snuggles her face into my neck. I’d be lost without this woman.
“Hey, babe?” she says.
“Yeah?”
“I can’t breathe.”
I release my arms. “Sorry.”
She looks at me with that expression like I’m in charge of all her happiness. Talk about putting a giant S on my chest and making me feel like I could fly. “Don’t be sorry, I like it when you hold me tight. Makes me know you don’t want me to leave.”
“Never. I never want you to leave.”
“Well, I don’t plan on going anywhere.”
We smile, and I place a chaste kiss on her lips. How did I ever get so lucky?
“Come and swim with me.” I take her hand and lead her to the back of the house.
I spot Marla now holding Emilia in her arms in the rocking swing. She must not have been down long for her nap but she still looks tired. She’s plastered to Marla like a koala bear, and Marla’s eyes are closed with her lips right by the little girl’s ear.
I shake my head. “Jed better get his head out of his ass and soon.”
“Maybe all he needs is the right woman to make him see the possibilities.”
I glare at my fiancée. “The last thing he needs is a woman.”
She shrugs. “The right woman worked to get your head out of your ass.”
Presley smiles and runs off, but I catch her, lifting her and jumping into the pool.
She’s right, but I’m not telling her that.
Fuck my family and fuck all this shit.
I sit my ass on the front step of my mom and Hank’s house. All the noise from the party out back echoes in the air around me. I’m surprised Emilia can even sleep. Then again, she must be completely zonked out since she rarely sleeps through the night.
I used to spend my nights playing video games, heading to a bar to grab a drink with friends, or just generally doing whatever the fuck I wanted. Now I’m tiptoeing around the house, washing tiny clothes, and trying to soothe a girl who looks at me as though I’m the goddamn IT clown. The only thing I have going for me is that I’m a killer chef for a four-year-old girl’s palate. Mac and cheese, chicken tenders, tater tots—she loves what I feed her. That’s the only part I’m winning so far.
Does Hank think I want to hand over my daughter to my mom?
Hell no, that’s not me.
But Emilia sees something in me and I’m pretty sure it’s fear. Which does neither of us any good. She’s scared because her mom died and she’s been left with a stranger, and I’m terrified because I cannot screw her up. Not the way my dad did with my sisters and me.
The knife to the heart is when Emilia laughs at Fisher. Since Adam and Cade both moved out, it’s only us in the old Greene house now. Fisher tickles her, and she laughs. He turns her into a flying airplane, and she laughs. The guy eases the tension well enough, but I swear I think he’s better suited than me to be her father.
“What are you doing?” Bibi—which is what I call Ethel, my stepgrandmother—comes around the house. “I wondered where you were.”
“If you’re here to lecture me, your son beat you to it,” I grumble and pick up a weed growing through the mulch.
“I don’t lecture. You have two other grandmas, you don’t need a third.”
I cock my eyebrow at her because I consider her my grandma even if it’s not by blood. And from what I know, she likes that.
“Okay, so why aren’t you enjoying the party?” I help Bibi to sit next to me.
“To tell you a story. When Hank was first born, my husband was so afraid. You know the soft spot on a baby’s head and how they’re so tiny? He thought for sure he was going to hurt him. He’d say, ‘Ethel, my calloused hands will scratch him.’”
I tear the weed into pieces, unsure why she’s telling me this. I mean, I get where she’s going with it. My entire family is trying to push me in the right direction. And
it’s not like I’m going to abandon my kid or something, but Jesus, give me a moment to catch my breath.
“I faked sick for an entire week. Pretended I couldn’t get out of bed.” She chuckles. “He had to cancel all his appointments and take care of Hank for an entire week with no help from me.”
“That’s kind of evil.”
She nudges me with her shoulder. “Nah. After that week, he’d come home and swoop Hank right up into his arms. It’s what women who love you will do. Show you how to be the best version of yourself you can be.” She winks.
“Well, I don’t have a woman, nor do I plan on getting a woman.”
Her shoulders fall and she stares at the side of my face because I refuse to face her. “Jed Greene, do not tell me you’re one of those bachelors who thinks he’s going to be scoring with women half his age when he’s old and gray?”
Hell no. I’m not my father. Still, there’s no way I’m about to go into all my issues with Bibi right now.
I say, “I’m sure as hell not getting married.”
“You have that charm.” Her tone is so matter-of-fact it catches me off guard. “You could probably have any woman you want.”
“I’m not sure about that.” Tanya Eaton, aka baby mama, clearly didn’t think I had what it takes to be a father. Hence the reason she never bothered to tell me she was pregnant.
Grandma Ethel knocks her shoulder to mine again. “You do. All the women down at Northern Lights love you. Always asking about Jed. So easy on the eyes. It’s because you compliment them all the time.” She nods.
My charisma was inherited from Jeff Greene, my dipshit father. It gets me in trouble. Always has. The other thing that gets me in trouble is my wandering eye. The one that suggests no woman will ever be enough for me, which is why I never wanted kids. I never want to do what my dad did to us.
I shake my head to get rid of the thoughts. “Bibi, I’m friendly. That’s all.”
“You should go out back and talk to Allie.”
I crinkle my brow. “Allie? As in Fisher’s Allie?”
“No, she’s my Allie. Actually, Dori’s I suppose, since we were fixing up Kingston when we met her.” She looks about as confused as I am.
“The only Allie I know, and the one who’s at this party, is Fisher’s friend.”
Her gray eyebrows scrunch together, and I see her wheels turning. If I’m lucky, they’ll turn right around to fixing up Fisher and Allie and she’ll get off my back.
“Huh,” Bibi says. “Regardless, do you really want that sweet little girl to grow up without a mommy figure?”
I bury my head in my hands, massaging my temples with my fingers. “Fucking hell. I love you, Bibi, but I can’t have this conversation right now.”
I walk away from her, rounding the side of the house, and find Molly headed in my direction.
“Hey, you,” Molly says. “I was just trying to find you.”
Molly’s wearing the skimpiest bikini she could get away with at a family event, and even in my shit mood, I notice.
“Hi.”
“Emilia is fast asleep in your mom’s arms,” she tells me.
But all I want to do is forget about all this for a little while. Forget that my life’s been flipped upside down so fast my head is spinning.
And Molly’s tits look mouthwatering in her bikini. You’d think she put ice cubes on her nipples the way they’re pointing through the fabric, begging to be sucked.
I glance around to make sure no one is around, then I take Molly’s hand and guide her back toward the front of the house.
Jed’s hand slides in mine and he leads me to the front of the house. We watch Ethel’s back as she goes the other way around the house, then Jed opens the front door, sliding us into his family home.
Nikki would kill me if she knew I’ve been fooling around with her brother. It’s not like this is anything serious between us. It’s two grown adults having fun together. Pure lust and pleasure. It wasn’t my plan to come here today and entice him, but I see the stress he’s under. I just want the happy Jed to come back. No harm, no foul, right?
“Come on,” he whispers and guides me up the stairs to what I think was Posey’s bedroom once upon a time.
Quietly, he shuts the door. The voices from the party drift up to the second floor, but it’s as though Jed doesn’t hear them because his hands land on my face and his lips on mine in seconds. His tongue dives into my mouth and I meet his eagerness with a ferocity of my own.
“You’re killing me in this thing,” he says, his fingers making quick work of my bikini top. Then his hands are on my breasts, massaging, twisting, teasing my nipples. “You did it on purpose. Just to turn me on.”
“No,” I lie, because of course I did. I feel as though I’ve been dressing for him for most of my life. It’s pathetic, I’m aware.
“Liar. It only makes me want you more.”
“Then yes, I did.”
His hands grow firmer, tightening on my breasts. The feeling of him touching me sends an electrical jolt down my body, centering between my thighs.
“I knew it. Why can’t I get enough of you?” His face dives into my neck and his tongue slides up to my ear. His heavy breathing in my ear is like he’s strumming my clit. I grow wet from the sound.
“I’m not sure we should be doing this here.” My intention with wearing this bikini was so he’d call me later tonight after Emilia falls asleep. I thought we’d flirt a little today—like foreplay—during the barbecue, then we’d seal the deal when there were no witnesses around.
“Fuck it. They’re all busy.” His hands slide under the back of my bikini bottoms, pushing me into him so his long hard length hits my stomach. Damn, the man is talented, I’ll give him that. “Busy with their damn perfect lives.”
I still.
He tears off his shirt. The man has abs I could definitely clean my soaked bikini bottoms on. Then he’s opening his board shorts, taking my hand and putting it on his dick. “See what you do to me?”
God, how long have I waited for those words to come from his mouth?
I stroke him, and his eyes close briefly. “Damn, that feels good.”
The more I’m in this room, looking at Posey’s prom pictures and all her girly items from high school, the more off it feels. What happens when I leave this room?
I’m back to being Molly, Nikki’s best friend, for the rest of the night.
“Jed?” I say.
His hand slides down the front of my bikini bottoms and his fingers dive between my folds, playing with my clit. “Uh huh?”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea if we do this here. Maybe I can come by tonight.”
His lips are on my skin now as his fingers play with me, making it hard to fight him.
“I don’t want a booty call tonight, I want it now,” he says in a low voice.
“And that’s all this is, right?”
There must be something in my tone I didn’t hear because he rears back, and his hands slip from under my bottoms. He stares at me long and hard. “Don’t tell me you’re gonna make things complicated now?”
There’s anger lacing his tone. Anger I’ve never heard from Jed before.
“Should I just spread my legs when you say go?” I snipe.
Sometimes lately—after Emilia got here—when he looks at me, it’s no longer the same Jed. He’s lost somewhere, and I have no idea where or how to help him escape the trap he’s put himself in.
“I thought we agreed to no strings?”
“We did,” I say.
A cocky smile forms on his lips. He approaches me, and for a moment, I allow myself to be his distraction. What’s the harm? I don’t have feelings for Jed Greene. At least not anything more than lust. Ugh. Even I know I’m lying to myself.
A knock on the door sounds and I push Jed off me, but he must be drunk on lust because he comes right back like I’m playing some game. He grabs my ass and pulls me toward him.
“Jed?” a dee
p male voice says, and Jed freezes. “Oh shit.”
Fisher’s eyes pierce into mine when I look around Jed’s large body.
“Get the fuck out,” Jed says, whipping his head toward his brother.
Fisher’s face falls and he shuts the door. Then we hear laughter.
“Oh my God, he won’t tell Nikki, will he?” I grab my bikini top off the floor to fasten it back on. “She’ll kill me.”
“What are you doing? Fisher won’t say anything. Keep that off.” Jed reaches for my bikini top, but I manage to get dressed and slide away from him.
“I think this was a bad idea.”
“So now you’re gonna bail on me?” Jed sits on the edge of the bed, his board shorts still open.
I step forward but manage to keep myself far enough away from him. We never should have started whatever this is between us.
“Just go, Molly,” he says.
I leave, but mostly to tell Fisher that if he speaks a word of this, I’m coming after him with a meat grinder.
Sneaking down the stairs, I hear Nikki talking from somewhere in the house and guilt weighs heavy on my heart. I’d never want to risk our friendship, but maybe Nikki would be cool with me dating her brother.
I shake my head. What the hell am I thinking? Jed Greene’s been emotionally unavailable my entire life. Nothing’s changed. In fact, it’s worse.
“We have our work cut out for us, Dori,” I say to my best friend on the way home from the Greene family summer bash.
Midge is sleeping in the back seat with her dentures slipping from her mouth. I swear she naps more than a newborn.
“Why’s that?” Dori sits in the passenger seat of her Cadillac, which I always drive because the sheriff in Lake Starlight has been on her about driving for years.
“Jed.”
“The man who can get a roomful of women to drop their panties?” She chuckles.
“That’s the one. The one with the daughter now.”
Dori looks out the window. “She’s precious.”
“I know, but Jed told me he doesn’t want to ever be married. His father did a number on him. So now we have to find the true Jed Greene and pull him out.”