I grab at my chest and then turn toward him.
“You scared the shit out of me.” I swat at him once I see that he’s extremely close to me. At first, I’m embarrassed for responding the way I do, but then he grabs my hand and doesn’t let it go right away.
“Sorry.” He laughs, and I think I could get used to hearing that sound every day. Woah, girl. Calm down.
“I’m sure you are.” I roll my eyes but then smirk at him.
“Here,” he reaches for the pies, “let me get those for you.”
“Thanks.” I smile. “They can be helpful when they want to be, but apparently they were more interested in getting into the pool than helping their mom.”
“Just wait until their more interested in the opposite sex than spending time with you.”
I hear the irritation in his voice, but at that comment, I’m shocked.
“Wait, what?”
“Yeah. Didn’t I mention I have a daughter?”
“No, I’m afraid you left out that small detail.” I feign annoyance.
He looks over at me with that sexy grin again. “Shit. That probably won’t help me get a date, will it?”
I stop in my tracks. “Are you being serious right now?” I point toward the house. “You do remember the two little minions that just left me stranded at my car, right?”
He shrugs his shoulders. “Yeah, I remember. They’re both pretty cool, but maybe you don’t like dating men with kids.”
“Uh, that would be pretty hypocritical of me, don’t you think?”
He laughs again, and I wish I could bottle the sound up for when I’m by myself tonight. It’s like music to my ears. God, I’m starting to annoy myself.
“Wait, how old are you if you have a daughter old enough to date?”
We’re now on the front porch, but neither of us makes a move to go inside, not finished with this conversation yet. If I’m being honest, I’d rather just stay out here with him and get to know him more. I’m sure Avery and Claire wouldn’t mind. They are, after all, always trying to get me to date.
“I’d tell you, but again, that would not help my dating case.”
Deciding to be playful, I open the door but before going in say, “Who says I’d go on a date with you anyway?”
I enter the house but behind me hear, “I’m not giving up, Sierra Greene.”
Instead of going to the kitchen where everyone is at, I make my way to the bathroom to splash some cold water on my face. That man does things to me. Good things. Right now, I decide that I’m not going to play this game with him for long, because I think I may be ready to date. Maybe.
Once I calm down some, I exit the bathroom and see Avery giving me a funny look.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I saw you two out there together. What’s going on? What aren’t you telling me?” She hounds.
“You’re dramatic. He helped me carry my pies in because my hands were full.”
“Mmmhmm. Yeah, sure.” She turns back toward the kitchen.
“Avery Porter!” I yell down the hallway, and she turns back to me. “You’re the one who wants me to start dating again. This is your fault!” I realize I’m being much louder than I thought when everyone in the kitchen goes silent.
Seeing that I’m embarrassed, she pulls me into her bedroom.
“Girl, I’m not mad!” She hugs me tight. “But I better be the first to find out when you two are together. Or hell!” She throws her hands up in exasperation. “I better know the first time you two get it on.”
I put my hand to my forehead. “Sex, is the absolute last thing on my mind.” Lies. Lies. Lies.
“You are the biggest freaking liar.” She glares at me. “How can you look at that sex god and not want to screw his brains out?”
I look at her appalled, although I shouldn’t be shocked. I’ve known her a long time and the girl has never had a filter for her mouth. But, that’s why I love her.
“Does your husband know how you talk?”
“Oh honey, he loves my dirty mouth.” She bats her lashes at me like she’s got something in her damn eye before making her way out of the room.
“Eww!”
She laughs hysterically as she makes her way back to the kitchen where the rest of their guests are.
“Momma, can we go swimming? Evan and the paweeseman will be out there.” Jayce asks as soon as I walk into the hallway. I melt at what he calls Caden. He has definitely won both my kids over already.
“You sure you don’t mind keeping an eye on them?” I plan on swimming eventually, but I want to make sure Avery doesn’t need my help with food first.
“Not at all. Come on, little man.” Evan holds out his hand for Jayce.
“Don’t forget your floaties,” I remind him before he walks out the back door.
“I won’t!” he hollers. I swear the boy only has one volume.
“What can I help with?” I ask Avery once I walk into the kitchen. She’s rearranging vegetables on a tray.
“You wanna cut up the watermelon?” She points to it on the counter across the room.
“Hey, Sier,” Claire says as I grab a knife from the drawer and begin slicing the melon.
“Hey! I didn’t even see you guys come in.”
“You mean you didn’t hear us?” She huffs out a breath, sending a stray hair on her head flying.
“I don’t hear noise anymore. My boys are so damn loud.”
“No, she probably didn’t hear you because she was in my room getting questioned about her love life.”
I drop the knife onto the cutting board. “Oh, my God, Av!” I throw my hands up in the air in dramatics.
“What love life?” Claire asks as she snags a piece of celery and pops it into her mouth before chomping on it like a cow. “Holy shit!” she yells way too loud considering the house is full of little ears. “Are you with that sexy cop?”
“You two are too much.” I go back to work on the melon, the poor thing a victim of my infuriation with my two best friends.
A loud wail comes from the monitor sitting on the counter.
“Damn it. Em just woke up,” Avery says as she squirts ranch into a bowl.
I take a bite of watermelon once I’m done cutting it up and wipe my hands on a paper towel.
“I’ll get her.” Perfect chance for me to escape this uncomfortable conversation that I’m sure is not finished yet.
“You sure?”
“Yeah, I need my Emmy fix.” I do love holding their munchkins. It’s been way too long since mine were that little, and chances are this is the only way I’ll ever get to enjoy them that small again.
“Hi, Emmy.” I lift Emery from her crib before kissing the top of her little nose. I can’t get over how much she looks like Avery.
She continues to cry, so I quickly find a diaper and change her, knowing that Avery will yell at me for it, but my friends have been so good to me. It’s the least I can do.
We make our way into the living room, and I start to rock her. After only a moment, she stops crying and is now smiling up at me. I absolutely love being a mother, but I feel like I was robbed of this time with both of mine. After Auggie was born I had bad postpartum and Glenna ended up having me put in the hospital. That was how I met Claire all those years ago. It sucked at the time, but now I think it was one of the best things to ever happen to me. I couldn’t live without those two crazy bitches. I guess my mother-in-law is to thank for that. That’s the one nice thing that woman ever did for me.
After Jayce I was in such a fog for a long time, for obvious reasons. I’m glad that neither of my boys remember how terrible I was back then.
“How the hell did you get her to stop crying?” Avery asks in between sips of her tea as she walks into the room. It’s truly a miracle that her girls don’t talk like sailors.
“She just loves me.” I kiss one of Emery’s pudgy cheeks and then grab on to her little finger. She really is adorable.
&nb
sp; I stand from the rocking chair and hand the baby to her after kissing the top of her fuzzy little head.
I walk to the window, and the sight before me takes my breath away. In the pool, Caden tosses Jayce into the air, and I can hear his laughter from here. I believe both my boys to be happy little guys, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen them like this before.
17
Caden
“More, Caden!” Little Jayce shrieks after I toss him into the air. This is more work than my morning weight lifting, but if I can make him laugh, I’ll do it all night.
I look toward the house when I hear the sliding door open, and suddenly I’m having very inappropriate thoughts, considering I’m currently playing with her son.
But, damn.
She covers one of the lounge chairs with a beach towel and then lifts her shirt over her head. As if my thoughts weren’t bad enough already. Now she’s showing even more skin than before.
“Momma!” little man yells once he sees his mother. “Are you going to swim with us?”
“Yeah, baby,” she says as she dips her toes into the water.
“Just jump in. It’s only cold for a second.” I smile up at her. By now Jayce has made his way around me and is climbing my back. It seems I’ve made a new little buddy.
“You’re crazy if you think I’d actually do that.” She sits on the side of the pool and shivers when her feet hit the water.
“Oh, come on. It’s gotta be warmer than the Atlantic,” I tease her.
She rolls her eyes at me before slowly sliding the rest of the way in.
“Damn.” She shudders.
“Momma, language!” Jayce scolds, and I look up to see she’s embarrassed that her child heard her curse. She’s adorable.
“Sorry.” She looks up at her son, now hanging like a monkey around my neck. This kid is cracking me up. “Jayce Miles, get off Officer Harris like that!”
I laugh. “He’s fine.”
She swims toward us and tries to peel him away from me. When she does, I notice that she’s not wearing her wedding ring. Maybe she just doesn’t like to swim with it on, but a part of me wonders if she decided to take it off for good.
I grab her arm. “Really, he’s not hurting anything.”
She gives me a coy look and damn, if it isn’t sexy as hell.
“And didn’t I tell you to call me Caden?” I nudge her.
“Well, yeah, but I try to teach them to be respectful.”
“Okay, but I don’t mind either way. We don’t have to be so formal.”
She doesn’t respond but swims toward her older boy, and I watch in awe as they play basketball with the hoop that Evan has set up on the side of the pool. Poor guy probably likes having Sierra’s boys here after putting up with five women all the time. God love him.
“Caden, dunk me!” Jayce hollers, pulling me out of my daze.
I playfully toss him into the water and then, when he comes up, rub at his head, causing his hair to stand straight up.
“You are a fish, little man.”
“Momma calls me a fishy too!” He laughs and then starts to swim toward Sierra and Auggie.
I watch them play together and my heart expands. I try not to read into why I feel this way, but I know that I could make the three of them even happier. I just wish their mother could see that.
Realizing that I’m staring like a freak, I decide to head toward Evan and his twins who are playing volleyball. This pool is freaking huge and brings shame to the little one in my backyard.
“It’s time to eat!” Avery calls from the kitchen window. “I’ll bring the food outside so you all don’t get my house dirty.”
I look over at Sierra as she struggles to get both boys out. I make my way toward them, wanting to help her if she’ll let me, but I also don’t want to step on her toes.
“Why can’t I just swim? I’m not hungry,” Auggie complains, and I can see the frustration on her face. She’s good at keeping herself together. I know it’s hard being a single parent, but she’s doing it with two.
“Auggie, Aunt Avery made lunch for everyone. You’re not going to be rude.” She has Jayce on her hip, so I swim closer to them.
“Hey, squirt.” I reach for the little one. “Why don’t you come with me? I’ll make you a plate. I heard there’s chocolate cake.”
At that, Jayce jumps into my arms, and when I look back up at Sierra’s face, she mouths “thank you” and I give her a small smile. This woman has no idea that I’d do anything for her or her boys. It’s strange feeling this way especially since I only just met her, but I decide not to question it. Frankly, it’s time we both found some good in our lives.
When I get out of the pool with Jayce, I see Anthony coming outside and he waves at me. I haven’t worked with him since I went off on him the other day. I felt like an ass, but something about Sierra makes me feel protective of her. I’ve never felt like this toward a woman before. And honestly, it scares the shit out of me. Right now, it’s far from love, but I can already tell that I could easily get hurt by her. She wouldn’t do it on purpose, and really, it would be my fault since she’s told me before that she’s not ready to date. But the last few times I’ve seen her, something has been different. I just hope I’m not setting myself up for disaster.
Jasmine screwed me over all those years ago, but the only reason I stayed with her for so long was our daughter. In the end, she did us both a favor. She was a selfish bitch and chose a life that didn’t include us. Sierra is nothing like her though, and I already know that. She’d do anything for her kids. I have no doubt about that.
Me and Jayce sit on the picnic table surrounded by all our friends.
“Hey, man,” Anthony says as he takes the empty spot on the other side of me.
“Hey.” I reach my hand out to shake his.
“I wanted to apologize for the other day. I was way out of line,” he says and then eyes little man next to me. Before I can respond, he asks, “Who’s this?”
“This is my buddy, Jayce, Sierra’s youngest boy,” I say as I wrap my arm around the boy and mess his hair up, playfully.
“Caden!” He laughs and then reaches his hand out to Anthony, mimicking me. This kid is freaking adorable. “You can call me squirt. That’s what Caden calls me.” Well, if his mom won’t have me, at least I know I made a new pal.
“Nice to meet you, squirt,” Anthony says before Jayce runs off when he sees his mom and brother walking toward us.
I turn back to my friend. “Don’t worry about it. It’s me who should be apologizing. She’s just been through a lot of shit, and I don’t want to cause her any more trouble.” I say this in a hushed tone, so she doesn’t overhear me. Thankfully, there’s a lot of people out here and most these kids aren’t exactly quiet.
“No, I get it. I stepped out of line.” He takes a pull from his beer. “Want to grab a drink this weekend? You’re off by eight tomorrow too, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, that sounds good. Let me see what Kenz is up to, but chances are she’ll be busy with her boyfriend,” I mumble.
“What did you say?” he asks with humor in his tone. He’s known Kenz since she was five. He’s almost as protective of her as I am. It’s good to know that someone is always looking out for her though.
“You heard me. All I have to say is the kid better behave, or I’ll break both his arms.” I grimace.
“Tell me when and where, and I’ll be there.” He pats my back as he goes to stand. “Let’s go get some grub.”
All the kids finish eating and are back in the pool in no time.
“Hey, is this seat taken?” The sweet voice beside me gives me chills, and I try to calm myself before turning to her.
“Well, Anthony was sitting there, but I think he’ll get over it. You’re prettier.” My eyes sweep over her still wet body, and I immediately see the blush that rises to her cheeks. She knows I’m flirting, but hell if I care.
She sits, suddenly acting shy, so I reach for her
arm.
“You do know you’re beautiful, right?” I ask bluntly. Maybe too bluntly, but I think she should know exactly how I feel. I’m sure I’m not the only man here that thinks so. But she chose to sit by me. That means something, right?
“You don’t have to say things like that to me, Caden,” she says quietly once she turns back to me.
I can tell I’ve made her uncomfortable, but I want her to get used to me giving her compliments.
“I know I don’t, but I like to.” I look her straight in the eye so she sees how serious I am.
“Why? You don’t even know me.”
I’m already sitting close to her, but I move so I’m completely in her space, wishing we were somewhere more private. I really didn’t plan on saying these things to her around a bunch of our friends. But I don’t know when I’ll get another chance.
“I know I don’t know you that well, yet, but I’ve been thinking about you ever since that night I rescued you on the side of the road.” I smirk at her, trying to make light of the conversation.
She giggles but then seems to go shy on me again. “You think about me?” I’ve never seen her so vulnerable, but she clearly has no clue how I see her. I’ve tried giving her space, but I don’t know if I can keep doing it for much longer.
“More than I probably should,” I tell her honestly. “I know you said you’re not ready to date, and I would never want to push you to do something you don’t want to do, but let me take you out, as friends.”
“As friends?” She eyes me suspiciously. “You want to be my friend?”
I grab my chest in mock offense. “Sierra Greene, you wound me. I thought we were already friends?”
“Well, yeah, I guess we are, but you acted like you wanted to take me out, like on a date?” She blushes. “I can’t believe I said that out loud.” I love seeing her flustered. Her face and her neck turn an adorable shade of red, and I have to wonder what other parts of her are the same color. Jesus.
I tuck a stray piece of hair behind her ear. “Don’t be embarrassed.” I smile at her. “I would love more than anything to take you out on a date, but if being your friend is what I can have, I’ll take it willingly. I’d rather that than never see your beautiful face again.”
Reawakened: The Unexpected Series Page 8