Return by Sea (Glacier Adventure Series Book 3)

by Tracey Jerald

  “Your boy Reece, he’ll be so damn used to viewing crowds through little octagons, he’ll forget what it’s like not to. Now, let’s get him comfortable with someone who also understands that feeling.” I reach behind my head and tug off my sweat-soaked tank. Toeing off my running shoes and socks, I begin to stretch.

  And my soul soars knowing I’m about to fight.

  “Ah, fuck. I thought you were kidding when you said you might spar with him.”

  “Do I ever kid about these things?”

  “Hell, Nick. We’re in Alaska. I figured you might demand a chainsaw challenge to see if you still had those kind of mad skills.” Oliver whistles to get Reece’s attention before I can tell him to kiss my ass.

  When the younger man sees me stripped down, ready to do battle, he approaches us with some trepidation. “Mr. Cain? Sir? Are you sure this is such a good idea? I don’t want to hurt you.”

  I mock Reece lightly as Oliver begins taping my hands with quick precision. “Son, you’re welcome to try.”

  Reece turns to his friend, demanding, “This is some kind of joke. Right? A test?”

  I flex my fingers, nodding my approval at my former protege. “Nice job, Ollie. The only test, Reece, is whether you can get over your hang-ups enough to strike first. Trust me, it won’t be as easy as you think.”

  I stride away and hop up into the ring. My toes curl into the rubbery softness of the mats while frantic whispers go on behind me. Tuning them out, I bend at the waist and place my hands flat down. With a quick kick, I brace my weight on my arms and begin to press up and down, over and over to warm up the muscles in my shoulders.

  Carefully, I lower myself back to a standing position, scooping up the gloves Ollie left there, to find Reece gaping at me. “First strike buys the first round.”

  That shakes him from his stupor. “You’re on.” He stalks to the opposite corner and hauls himself in.

  “Ollie, head guards?” But Oliver, anticipating me, is already grabbing the necessary protective gear. A black helmet comes sailing in my direction. Quickly sliding it on, I slip in a mouth guard from my pocket and find myself in the zone. I’m ready. Anticipation thrums through my veins. I haven’t felt anything like this since…fuck. Since Maris kissed me last night.

  “Ready. Fight!” Oliver calls.

  I leap back just as one of Reece’s long legs is about to make contact. “I thought this was going to be a challenge,” he trash-talks.

  “Oh, boy. Just you wait.” I feint to the left before striking with my right. It’s a solid hit directly to the kid’s midsection.

  “Fuck,” Reece grunts in disbelief.

  “First strike,” Oliver calls out.

  “You haven’t been fucked yet, kid. That’s later.” Then I stop playing and see if Reece really has what it takes to be a champion because the first step is mental. He has to stop thinking of me like I’m not a threat because I have a decade on him. I can and have taken down guys his age and size. The other thing he needs to start believing is there’s only one champ in the ring. That’s what my mentor taught me all those years ago. It’s what I’ve taught everyone under me who’s fought for the belt.

  The thing is, it should no longer be me.

  By the time we’re through, I know I’m going to have some impressive bruises. But I also know Oliver wasn’t wrong. Reece London was born to wear the belt.

  We’re both dripping with sweat as we spit out our mouth guards. Then a ridiculous grin splits his face. “Did that just happen? Did I seriously kick Nick Cain’s ass?”

  I sniff. “You tried, kid. Your ground game needs some major work.” But I give in to his exuberance. “Hell, I’m going to feel that kidney shot later. I just know it.”

  Reece starts to laugh. “It was an honor, Mr. Cain. Truly.”

  “Make it Nick. No one who works with me calls me ‘Mister’ anything.”

  Reece draws in a breath that in turn makes him clutch his ribs from where I landed a series of lightning-fast punches when I had him pinned to the mat earlier. “You’re kidding?”

  “Not at all. We’re going to have to discuss travel arrangements, stipend, of course. I assume you don’t have an agent?”

  And just like that, all the joy washes out of his features. “You mean I can’t train up here?”

  I cut my eyes over to Oliver. His own shock is evident. Oliver is the one to reply. “That’s not normally how it’s done, Reece.”

  “It’s just…it’s my gran. I need to make arrangements for her. And winters up here, they’re not easy.”

  “I understand, kid.” Boy, do I understand what the first bite of winter feels like sinking through your bones when you’re unprepared for it. “How about Oliver and I have a discussion, figure out schedules, and then we contact you with the details?”

  Relief floods his face. “That would be amazing. Thank you. Thank you so much.” He reaches out and shakes my hand. Then he grabs Oliver and slaps him on the back so hard, it wouldn’t surprise me if he cracked a bone.

  “Ollie, stick around,” I order as Reece bounds out of the ring and heads for the locker room. When he’s out of earshot, I cock a brow.

  “I’m sorry, Nick. I completely forgot about his gran.”

  “Is she ill?” I’m not worried about the fighter; I know what I can do with Reece London once I get him at Razor. I am truly concerned about the guy’s family. Because once Reece becomes mine, I want all of him.

  Much like I want Maris. Shoving that thought from my head, I focus on the matter at hand.

  Oliver’s thoughtful. “Frail. I think if Reece went to her and said he wanted to move, she’d tell him to go. But intuitively he knows he’d lose her.”

  “Where are his folks?”

  “Enjoying mai tais on the beach in Hawaii with mine.” Oliver’s voice doesn’t hold the same bitterness it did when I first met him. Not anymore.

  “Christ, and I liked the kid even before I knew that. So, he put his life on hold to watch out for gran and…”

  “And then you walked in the door,” Oliver concludes. “The question is, what are you going to do?”

  I’m about to answer when my phone rings from one of the folding chairs. “Hold that thought.”

  I duck under the ropes and jump down. I grab it just in time to see Maris’s face. I quickly answer. “Hey. What’s going on?”

  “Despite the no going out to dinner until you finish your email rule, I’ve been invited over to eat at Brad and Rainey’s tonight. Since I’m stopping by the grocery store for a bottle of wine, do you want me to grab anything to drink for you?”

  “I should say no since I’m training,” I say automatically.

  “Nick, have you ever not been in training?”

  I laugh. “No.”

  “Then would you like something to drink?”

  “Beer. Whatever Brad drinks. And would you mind picking up a bottle of tequila for Rainey since I crushed hers the last time I was here?”

  “I don’t know what I’m more offended by.”

  Uh-oh. I feel like I’m being led into a trap. I ask carefully, “What?”

  “That the Jacks got lit together at Jed’s funeral and didn’t invite me or that Rainey didn’t give me the gossip about it.”

  “Go with number two,” I urge her.

  “Of course you’d say that. I’m hanging up now.”

  “Drive safely,” I say automatically.

  There’s a long silence before a soft “Thanks.” Then she disconnects the call.

  Damn, I really need to finish reading the rest of those emails. I turn around and find Oliver with an arrested expression on his face. “Let’s table this until tomorrow. Tell Reece I had personal plans come up and you and I are going to meet in the morning.”

  Oliver backs away slowly, trepidation on his face. “What time in the morning?”

  Stopping only to pick up my tee and shoes, I call over my shoulder, “Whatever time is most inconvenient for you, of course, Oliver.”<
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  “You’re an ass, Nick,” he yells, just as the door closes behind me.

  “So I’ve been told by many,” I murmur as I strip down to nothing. Padding over to the shower stall, I turn on the taps and step under the warm water, letting the soap and spray take away my aches for a little while.

  I pull into the Meyerses’ driveway right behind Maris. Immediately, my mind blanks and my dick hardens as she slides from her vehicle in a pair of torn jeans and a shirt that has cutouts exposing both shoulders. My mouth begins watering, and it has nothing to do with the smells emanating from the backyard. “Thank you, sweet Lord, for the inventor of jockstraps” are the first words I manage to get out. Because I know if I’d taken a nut shot today, I’d be paying for it badly right about now. I’m fully erect as her body moves and sways.

  Jumping from my borrowed vehicle, I snag my gym bag from the passenger seat and approach her. “Need any help?”

  “Hey. Were you working out?” She nods at the bag in my arms. She reaches into the back of her SUV, stretching out, and my heart beats harder than it did when Reece had me up against the ropes. Holy mother of God. I just want to find a spot where we can be alone and I can spend a night exploring that magnificent ass.

  “No, I met the guy today.” At her quizzical expression, I explain. “The guy I flew up here to meet. Reece London.”

  To my shock, the buoyant expression on Maris’s face disappears. “Is that what this party’s for? A goodbye celebration? You’re leaving?” Her voice becomes hostile, but there’s something else there. Something I’ve never noticed before because I wasn’t listening.

  It’s hurt.

  “Shit. No.” I drop the bag to the side. I reach out and clasp the smooth skin of her arms. “Did you really think I would just pick up and leave?”

  “Why not? It’s not as if you don’t have a record for it,” she flings at me. “What’s so different this time?”

  “This.” And I yank her into me.

  This kiss holds none of the exploratory tenderness of last night and all of the passion. I boost Maris onto her tailgate and step in between her legs so I can press her against my raging hard-on. She nips my lower lip before trying to climb me like a tree. Fuck, I know there’s never been a woman I’ve wanted the way I want her. And after the tastes of her I’ve had, I’m not certain I’ll ever find another.

  Maris tears her mouth away, breathing hard.

  I bend down until our eyes are level. “You made me a promise—dinner for those emails. Don’t think I’m not holding you to it.”

  “But I thought…”

  “That I was going. You made that clear. And I’m telling you now, I may have other plans in mind.”

  “Like what?” she challenges me.

  I bop the tip of her nose with my finger. “Jed always said you were such a pain around the holidays. Couldn’t hack a surprise and had to know everything.”

  “You two…talked about me?”

  “Much more than you can imagine,” I confirm.

  She shifts off the tailgate. Our bodies are in perfect alignment. “If that’s the case, then why did he not want us together? Why did he warn me away from you, Nick?” Tears well in her eyes. “Do you realize how much could have been different?”

  “I don’t. But maybe the answers are waiting for me.”

  “I hope so. Because I’ve been searching for them for years, and what I’ve found isn’t good. For either of us.”

  Maris

  “I’m not sure I can forgive Nick for Vegas, even if I — barely — understand the reasons why. He’s got to get his head on straight if it takes a year, five, ten, before he comes around her again.” - From the journals of Jedidiah Smith.

  “So, you and Nick are behaving…”

  “Yes?”

  “Like you both have a secret,” Rainey accuses. She holds out the spoon she’s stirring the beans with and points it at me. “Start talking. What happened?”

  “Nothing.”

  “You are such a liar,” she accuses.

  More than you could possibly understand. “Honestly, nothing. We talked the other morning after the bar. And came to a mutual decision to leave the past where it belongs. Water under the bridge and whatnot,” I protest. “Nick’s not all that bad.”

  Rainey’s eyes are practically popping out of her head. “If I repeat this conversation to the girls, they’re immediately going to demand to know if you’re ill or what medication you’re taking.” She reaches over the counter and feels my forehead. “Nope. No fever.”

  I can’t prevent the grin that leaps onto my face. “Swear to you, I’m not ill. No drugs either.”

  “Christ, what the hell happened?” she demands.

  The smile fades from my face as I slide onto a barstool. “Honestly?” At her nod, I continue. “I think I grew up. Is it Nick’s fault I still had feelings for so long? No,” I answer myself before Rainey can.

  It’s a large part of the truth in any case, even if it’s not everything. But I can’t betray my brother, nor Nick, by disclosing what I read in Jed’s journals. Maybe Brad’s shared Nick’s past, but it’s not mine to. Instead I tell Rainey, “I did a lot of soul-searching. And how much of my behavior was overly aggressive towards him because I was bitter over something that happened years ago? There were no promises between us—implied or otherwise. In other words, I wasted my life and I have no one to blame but myself, but I’m taking the steps to rectify that. Going through the process to foster and then—fingers crossed—adopt David? I feel renewed.”

  Rainey opens and closes her mouth. Then she simply puts down the spoon she was stirring the beans with before she comes around the counter and envelops me in a huge hug. “You didn’t waste your life, Maris.” Her words are muffled.

  “You’re one of my best friends. Of course you have to say that.”

  “When have you ever known me to mince words?”

  My lips curve. “Oh, I’m sure I can think of a time or two.”

  “Since we formed the Jacks’ sisterhood,” she challenges me.

  “Well, if you’re putting those kinds of parameters on it,” I tease, “I guess the answer is never.”

  Releasing me, she goes back and picks up her beer. “Damn straight. Not with Brad, not with the guys, not with any of you.” She gives me a mock salute as she takes a pull of her drink.

  “Then tell me, oh wise one, what I should do about the fact Nick kissed me?” I’m so glad I waited to ask until she’d just taken a drink when a spray of beer comes flying out of her mouth. I lean forward and rest my chin on my fist. “Hmm?”

  “This is the shit you tell me the minute you enter the door! You’ve been here for almost an hour!” Rainey slams her beer on the counter and immediately dashes for her iPad.

  Within seconds, my phone rings with an incoming FaceTime request. “Dialing me by mistake?” I drawl.

  “Just answer your phone,” she grouches.

  “Why?” But I do as she asks, knowing exactly who else will be waiting.

  I’m not disappointed.

  Meadow picks up first, Kara right after. “Uh-oh. I recognize that look on Rainey’s face. Someone’s about to get it.” Meadow immediately begins to laugh.

  I try for an angelic expression, but Rainey hisses, “Don’t you even dare, Maris Ione Smith.”

  Kara smothers a laugh. “All three names? What on earth could you have done?”

  “She. Kissed. Nick!” Rainey screeches.

  Then there’s absolute silence. I know Rainey’s as confused as I am because she begins to shake her iPad up and down. “For Christ’s sake, Rainey. You’re in the same room as me and you’re making me nauseous with that. Either we lost connection, or you sent them into shock.”

  Rainey stops immediately, becoming concerned. “And Kara’s pregnant? God, I didn’t even think of that.”

  I roll my eyes. And that’s when I hear it.

  Applause.

  It’s slow and steady, but it comes through
my phone and Rainey’s iPad a little off sync. I immediately glance down to see which one of our friends is being the smart-ass only to get the shock of my life.

  Meadow’s on her feet applauding. Kara, on mute, has her hand out to Jennings. He’s slapping a twenty into it with a rueful smile before he disappears from screen. Then she too begins to cheer. “It’s about damn time!”

  “Did I enter a time warp where Nick’s head hasn’t firmly been planted up his ass?” Rainey asks, confused.

  Meadow, Kara, and I all answer, “No,” simultaneously. But even as we’re all giggling, Kara poses a question that has us all sucking in a breath. “Why did Jed leave Nick his cross? Knowing what Nick and Maris had been through? There had to be a reason. The symbolism of that meant too much. After I was able to look at things analytically, then I was able to add one and one together.”

  “And Jennings gave you the correct answer.” I glare at my best friend. Out of the corner of my eye, Rainey glances away on-screen. There’s my confirmation; I can only presume she knows as well.

  “No. He wouldn’t share those kinds of confidences with me. You should know that,” Kara chastises me. I blush to the roots of my hair, because I do. These men consider each other brothers for a reason. “All he did was confirm Nick’s been searching for a way to pierce the barrier between you both. Seems like he found it.”

  I open my mouth, and nothing comes out because how much has really been said between me and Nick versus how much do I know? He broke through some of my barriers because he finally read about the past. That shocked him, that bite of mortality. It made him realize the world was still going to spin around whether he was a part of it or not. But, “It’s not quite what you’re thinking, Kara. He hasn’t shared with me. It’s been one-sided.”

  “Shit,” Rainey mutters.

  “Damn. And here I was hoping…” Kara says softly.

  “Everything I know about Nick, from Nick, is exactly the same. So, Rainey’s shock is valid and genuine. I don’t know why I kissed him the first time. Or why I let him kiss me the second.” I slide off the stool and begin to prowl around the room with my phone in hand. “There’s something different. I know it. But can I trust it?”