Broken Pieces (Leaving You, Finding Them Book 1)

by Tammi Lynn

  I get to work just in time, and when I go through the door, both Felicia and Cassie are up and out of their seats in an instant. They lean against the other side of the counter. “Alright spill it. We want to hear everything,” Cassie says excitedly.

  “Yeah, everything.”

  “What are you guys talking about?” I ask while looking back and forth between the two. “Spill what?”

  Felicia jumps in. “First you go home with Cade the other night, you’re always evading our questions about it, and now he’s bringing you iced coffee to work.” She points to a large iced coffee sitting on my desk.

  “Wait, what? Who? When?”

  “Cade stopped by about ten minutes ago, dropped it off, saying he knew you could use it. Come on tell us! Are you guys dating?” Cassie gets right to the point.

  I can’t believe he brought me a coffee. I think my heart just did a little pitter-patter. Dating? Are we? Heading through the counter to my desk, I don’t really know how to answer them. I really don’t know what you’d call messing around with all your neighbors, and I don’t really want to tell them much.

  Knowing they won’t leave me alone till I give them something I decided to keep it light. “Well, I mean, I like him.” A lot, a lot a lot. I pick up the drink for a distraction and take a sip. Caffeine! Mmmm Hazelnut, my favorite.

  Felicia looks like she’s bouncing on her toes. “What did he mean by he knew you’d need it?”

  “I don’t know, maybe he saw me drag my tired ass out to my truck this morning?”

  “Yeah, but he had to have left and gotten it before you left, to get it here before you arrived.”

  “Well, I don’t know,” I can feel the blush run up my neck to my cheeks, and I can tell they see it too. No way am I telling them it’s because we woke up in the same bed together.

  “Awe! Come on! We need details.” Cassie whines.

  “Come on, ladies, let's get to work.” I try to distract them, but it doesn’t work.

  “You're really not going to tell us?”

  “You two are the biggest gossips. No way am I talking.”

  “Oh, come on. We promise we won’t tell.” Felicia says with a pout.

  I like these girls, and I can definitely see us being friends, but no way do I trust them yet. They live for a story and probably should have had journalism as a profession. They know some crazy dirt on a lot of people. “Maybe another time?”

  “We’re going to hold you to that.” I have no doubt they will.

  I throw myself into my work for the rest of the day, and just like the days before it, it goes by super quick. I am up and out of my chair, the second the clock reaches five. I’m exhausted and need a nap, so when I get home, I don’t make it any farther than the couch. Pulling a cover from over the back of the sofa, I snuggle in falling asleep within minutes.

  It’s around midnight when I wake with a start. I can’t believe I slept that long, but that’s not what woke me up. I can hear someone yelling outside, but I can’t make out what they are saying. Getting up I wrap the blanket around me and go to look out the kitchen window into the front yard. I can’t believe what I’m seeing.

  Jesse is lying flat on his back arms and legs out wide in my front lawn. Jayson, Cade, and Roman are all standing around him, laughing. I can tell Cade is trying to keep a stern face, but failing. That’s when I can hear what’s being yelled at by an apparently very drunk Jesse. “Wiiiiillllllson! Wiiiiillllson!” Oh. My. God. I let out a laugh so hard I snort, instantly grateful that they can’t hear me.

  When I went to open the door and go out, I can hear one of them say. “Shut up, you idiot! You're going to wake up the whole fucking neighborhood.” Roman, that was Roman, I would know whose voice that was from far away.

  Jayson sees me as I head towards them and just shakes his head with a smile. When I get to where their standing I look down at Jesse, his eyes are closed and he has the happiest smile on his face. “Jesse.” I start. “What are you doing down there?”

  His eyes open, and his smile gets even wider. “You look like a hot librarian. I was calling you. Did you hear me?” I push up my glasses, laughing.

  “I think the whole street heard you.” Directed to the three standing, I say, “How much did he have to drink?”

  Scratching the back of his head, Roman looks a little guilty. “We kind of lost track and he was just throwing em back. We went out with some friends of Cade’s, and they always get a little crazy, and you know Jesse’s as crazy as they come.”

  “Hey, man. Not cool. Wilson, come here Beautiful,” He reaches for my hand and pulls me down to him. I kneel beside him, pushing his sweaty hair out of his face. He pulls me in for a kiss, and he tastes like cinnamon and mint, an odd mixture. But while kissing him, it tastes incredible.

  I break from the kiss and stand back up. Turning toward Cade, I ask him. “Will you help me get him inside?”

  Reaching down, he grabs one of Jesse’s arms and starts tugging him up. “Get up, asshole.” He gets him standing and walks with a shoulder under his arm to my front door. I quickly run ahead and open the door for them. Before I go inside, I turn back to Jayson and Roman, giving them each a hug and a quick peck on the lips, before they turn and go back to their own house.

  When I get inside and lock the door behind me, Cade and Jesse are already in my room. Jesse is leaning with his head against the wall by the door eyes closed, and Cade is sitting at the end of the bed taking his shoes off. When he sees me come in, he stands up and walks to me. Gently grabbing my hand, Cade pulls me into the bathroom where there is a little pink gift bag on the counter. Picking it up, he hands it to me. What is this? I can’t believe he got me something.

  Inside is an adorable purple teddy. Its satin and lace and looks like it will just barely cover my ass. The whole top is see-through lace, and the bottom made up of the smooth satin. “This is beautiful. Thank you!” I throw my arms around his neck and hug him tight.

  “Well, I did owe you one for cutting yours.” Mmm, the memories.

  “I love it.” I undress quickly and pull it over my body. It fits perfectly, my breasts on full display. Cade watched the whole thing with a hunger in his eyes. He adjusts himself and then pulls me to him, running his hands over the smooth back and down to grab my ass. He lifts, bringing me closer to kiss my lips, and I moan against his mouth. “And I loved that too.”

  We break apart and head back into the bedroom. Jesse is now starting to remove his clothes, and I get up and sit on the bed, watching him as he stumbles a little pulling his pants from his legs. Cade goes to the right side of the bed that he always sleeps on and starts removing his clothes as well, down to his red boxer briefs. My eyes go back and forth between the two and am shocked when Jesse continues on to take his boxers off as well. I just stare at his glorious body, all the way down to his cock. He’s long and fully hard, and my body starts to heat up.

  Catching me staring, he says. “You like what you see?” He waggled his eyebrows at me and places his hands behind his head. I just about lose it when he starts rotating his hips, making his cock helicopter around and around. I can’t help it, I burst out laughing, holding my hands over my mouth.

  “What the fuck, Jesse? My eyes!” Cade says, and when I turn to look at him, he is lying back against the pillows with an arm thrown over his eyes face. He’s laughing too, though, and I love seeing the smile on his face.

  Turning back to Jesse, he has now started to helicopter his way over to the bed. My belly hurts. I’m laughing so hard, and just before he reaches the end of the bed, I fall back in hysterical tears. Jumping onto his feet on the bed in one quick jump, he stands over me, while continuing to gyrate his hips. That’s when I end up laughing out with a snort, and he stops eyes going wide. He sits down on my stomach his dick hard against my chest, and boops me on the nose. “Now that was just the cutest thing ever.”

  My cheeks flame in embarrassment and I cover my mouth once again and praying another one won’t slip ou
t. Jesse cracks me up, he’s so carefree, and I love it. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Cade remove his arm from his eyes, and then he reaches out and pushes Jesse over. He falls against my other side, lying beside me, and before I can fully stop laughing, I can hear a soft snore come out of him. His eyes are closed and he’s out to the world.

  Cade pulls me over to him and holds me from behind, I’m having a hard time falling back asleep when he starts playing with my hair, soothing me into a dream-filled sleep.

  When I wake Saturday morning, it’s the same as the day before, to Cade kissing me before he leaves. He starts shaking Jesse’s arm to get him to wake up. “Jesse. Jesse man, get up.” He starts shaking him harder. “Come on, fucker, wake up.”

  Opening his eyes slowly, he blinks awake. “Fuck, I’m up, I’m up.”

  “Get up and get dressed, your jeep is parked in front of the garage, and I’m taking the Chevelle to work.”

  Jesse looks over at me after Cade’s gruff words. “Good morning, Beautiful.”

  “Good morning. How are you feeling?”

  “Like a king. Not even a hangover.” Well, that’s not fair, I’d be hugging porcelain if I were him.

  “Jesse,” Cade says with a growl.

  “I know I’m coming.” He gets out of the bed to get dressed, and I can’t help but watch his dimpled ass as he walks across the room. Once he gets dressed, he kisses me on the forehead and leaves with Cade, and I snuggle back into bed. I don’t have to leave for the airport until one. I damn well plan on sleeping in for as long as I can until then. It doesn’t take me long to fall back asleep.

  I wake up at almost noon and jump up and rush to get ready. I’m heading out the door to my truck at a quarter till one and want to scream when I see that the front passenger side tire has a flat. I can see a nail stuck in the tread. Fuck my luck! Things like this love happening to me, I’ve had five flat tires in the past two years. I am now a boss at changing the tire. When I get into the back to find the jack, I realize I forgot to get a new tire on the spare when I last had to switch it out. I need to leave, this can’t be happening to me right now.

  Kicking the stupid flat infuriating tire, I turn around and lean against the truck. Pulling my phone out I’m getting ready to call an Uber when I look across and see that Jesse’s jeep is in their driveway. I don’t even think about it and start toward their house, I can’t be late in picking Miklo up from the airport. I have to knock on the door a few times before Jesse answers it. He’s barefoot in a pair of jeans and black tee, his hair adorably mussed from an apparent nap.

  “Jesse, I need your help. My tire has a flat, and so is the spare. Can I please get a ride to the airport? Miklos plane lands at two.” It’s just now turning one, and it takes twenty-six minutes to get to Seattle, let alone getting to the airport too.

  “Yeah, just let me get some shoes on, and we can go.” When he goes inside to get them on, I stay at the door in hopes that he’ll be quick. He’s out the door, and we’re getting into his jeep within five minutes. He takes off spinning gravel beneath the tires. Jesse is a crazy driver, and I have to keep catching myself from grabbing the “oh shit” handle above my door. Speeding down the road, I no longer feel I’ll be late. He keeps me entertained on the drive, telling me stories of himself and the guys. Most of them funny stories, of course. I love it, I get to see and hear more and more about these guys every day. These guys I’m hopelessly falling for, far too quick. I’ve become one of those people I never could understand. One that falls for someone too quick and hard, I always used to say there is no way someone could fall in love so fast. That it takes time to get to know a person. I’m starting to think I may have been wrong. Maybe it’s because I was just never falling for the right person or people before.

  We make it to the airport at fifteen to two. Jesse drops me off, and I run inside to greet Miklo. He’s going to drive around till I call him when we head back out. I just make it to before you have to cross into the gates when I see my baby boy walking out. His plane must have landed early. He smiles as he approaches, and I can’t help feeling like I want to cry. He gets bigger and bigger every day. Even with him being gone only a week, I feel like I missed out on some of that growth. At thirteen, almost fourteen, he is now taller than me by two inches. I don’t like it, I’ve told him to quit growing on me so many times, but he just doesn’t listen. Although as much as I wish he could stay little forever, it’s incredible getting to watch him grow and become his own person.

  When he gets to me, I grab him into a big hug. Squeezing him tight. “I missed you Bubbs.”

  “Missed you too, Mom.”

  “How was your flight?”

  “It went fast, I slept the whole time.” Is his voice getting deeper? Quit growing baby boy. I release him, and he gets ahold of his carry-on suitcase and backpack as we head to the exit. I send Jesse a quick text that we are on our way out. Yeah, did I mention I have all of their phone numbers in my phone now? Don’t know how they all got in there but they are. Although I do have my suspicions of who put them there. Since the name put in for Jesse’s number is listed as Captain Cock aka Jesse, and everyone else's names are as they are, I’m leaning towards him as the culprit.

  I send a text to Dre too, letting him know that Miklo made it okay before we go out the doors to where the pick up is and stop at the curb. Miklo looks over at me. “Where’s the truck?”

  “Flat tire?"

  “Seriously?”

  “Yup I know right? I need to invest in tires.” I can see Jesse’s Jeep coming our way. “I didn’t have time to deal with it, so I asked Jesse for a ride.” He pulls up next to us, and I start to open the door.

  “Jesse, huh?” He gives me a side smile.

  “Shh. Don’t even start.” I smile at him and then give him the mom look. You know the one. The one that says he better keep his mouth shut and not embarrass me. Little brat will probably do it anyway. He pointed two fingers at his eyes then at mine. Giving me the I’m watching you sign.

  I climb into the back since I’m the smallest, and give shotgun to Miklo with his longer legs. He gets in after Jesse and me, and they give each other a handshake. “Hey, Jesse.”

  “Hey, little man, how was your trip?”

  “It was alright, I’m happy to be home.” I can’t even describe the feeling I get when I hear him call it home. We are already settled, our new life has begun.

  I get a little uncomfortable in the backseat, Jesse keeps looking in the rearview at me, and Miklo keeps looking at me and then at Jesse with the biggest cheeser on his face. They start talking about basketball. Apparently, tryouts at school are coming soon, and he’s going to try out. He never even mentioned it to me. They continue on, and I hear Jesse tell him that he’d help get him ready for tryouts and my heart clenches. Don’t get me wrong, I love that he will have someone to help him out with guy stuff. But I wonder if I should let them get too close? What if it doesn’t work out here? What if they decide to change their minds? I don’t want Miklo hurt. Millions of questions swirl like a tornado in my head. The biggest question standing out from the rest. Where is all of this going?

  Jesse pulls up into the driveway, and we all get out. After another bro handshake, Miklo grabs his stuff and heads to the house looking over at the truck before heading inside. I look over at the truck in question as well. The tire is no longer flat? “What?”

  Before I could finish my question Jesse starts in, “I text Cade earlier before we left, you have a good spare now too. Don’t worry, it’s on us. Should probably warn you though, Cade was pissed. You were driving around with a flat one.” Shit! Oh, wait, this could be interesting… He sees the look that goes across my face, and he smiles devilishly. He must know Cade's penchant for punishment.

  I clear my throat, blushing. “Well thank you, for both the ride and the tires, and I’m still going to pay you back.”

  “I could think of a few ways you could pay me back. But I won’t take your money, Beautiful.”


  My body starts to heat up even though the weather has started to get cold. “Well still, thank you for today, you saved me.”

  “As your knight in shining armor, it’s really no problem. Besides, you have a cool kid. I really like talking with him, reminds me a little of myself at that age.” I see a sad expression cross his face, but it’s gone in an instant. “If you ever need my help again, don’t hesitate to ask.”

  I stand at attention. “Aye, aye Captain.” As I throw in a salute, I see his eyes open wide, a fire lit behind the cool blue.

  “Mia.” He takes a step forward.

  I take a step back. I can see where his look is wanting to go, and I need to get inside before I give in. “I’ll see you later, Jesse.” I keep backing up slowly, my eyes never leaving his, before I finally turn and go inside with Miklo.

  Dre never did text me back, he’s probably going to do one of his month-long silent treatments.

  ∞∞∞

  Jesse

  I just stand there and watch her walk inside, her ass swaying in a pair of skin-tight jeans. My cock went from soft to hard in seconds only from hearing her calling me Captain, and that salute she threw in? Fucking adorable as hell, I put that in her phone as a joke, but now I’m extra glad I did. If she hadn’t started backing up, and if I didn’t remember, she had to get inside with Miklo? I would have grabbed her up right then and rushed her up to my room. Now I should probably go and take a cold shower. Standing for a second longer, I turn and head inside.

  All my brothers are home now sitting on the couch watching a college football game on TV. I grab a beer out of the fridge before walking over and throwing myself down in my favorite spot, pulling a throw pillow over my still tenting shorts. They all start laughing at me, of course.