The Halo Series Boxed Set

by Kimberly Knight

  Avery and Bailee shook hands. Bailee introduced her friend Chauna to us. I motioned for Easton to step closer so I could introduce him. He and Bailee shook hands as well and she looked at me with skepticism in her eyes.

  We walked toward the restaurant and Bailee linked her arm with mine “If you don’t claim him, I will,” she whispered in my ear.

  “He’s too old for you,” I said.

  Easton turned around, knowing we were talking about him, and we smiled at each other. I did want to claim him. I wanted to announce to everyone that this hot piece of ass was mine—all mine. But that wasn’t the situation.

  “Age is just a number, big sis.”

  “Fine, he’s mine,” I said, whispering in her ear.

  “Lucy, you’ve got some splainin’ to do.”

  I laughed, remembering how we used to fall asleep every night watching I Love Lucy reruns on Nick at Nite. I didn’t have anything to explain … other than I wanted to jump his bones.

  The hostess sat us on the patio overlooking the water of Cabo. It was breathtaking. The blue water glistened, reflecting the sun and little waves were made as speedboats passed by.

  “So tell me what you’ve been doing for almost a week in Cabo?” I asked my sister.

  “You know … the usual stuff.” She shrugged.

  “Like what?”

  “Drink, tan, shop—the usual.”

  “Meet any boys?” Nicole asked, nudging Avery’s shoulder.

  “Of course,” Bailee and Chauna both said in unison.

  It was only natural for Bailee to meet boys and … well, hook up with them. We’d talked about boys a lot growing up, but I still didn’t want to imagine her getting drunk with them, doing body shots or doing the deed. She was still my baby sister.

  “I’ve met a boy, too,” Nicole said, kissing Avery.

  “What about you?” Bailee asked, raising an eyebrow towards Easton as she spoke to me.

  The waitress came, breaking the awkward conversation, to take our order. Bailee knew about Jared, but I also knew that she didn’t care for him. She told me that a man needed to take care of me. I tried explaining that’s what a wife does, but she reminded me every time that I wasn’t his wife.

  The waitress left after everyone ordered and Bailee once again asked me about Easton. “Well, have you met anyone? It’s a singles cruise, right?”

  “Yeah, it is.” I paused. “You can say that I’ve met someone,” I continued, smiling at Easton.

  Fuck me!

  “I see,” Bailee said then quickly changed the subject back to Nicole and Avery.

  I couldn’t look at Easton. I was too embarrassed. We’d spent practically the last eighty hours together, and we’d stolen plenty of touches, glances, and smiles. We were just fighting the inevitable now, trying to keep me an honest woman.

  After we finished breakfast, we took a small cruise boat to Land’s End, snapping pictures of the famous arch made out of rock where the Pacific Ocean meets the Sea of Cortez. After the boat brought us back to shore, the boys excused themselves to venture off and buy Cheyenne a souvenir. We offered to go with them, but I knew they were letting me have girl time with Bailee.

  We found four seats in the corner of a packed bar and ordered a pitcher of margaritas to wash down our breakfast—we were in Mexico after all—before Bailee began giving me the third degree about Easton.

  “Spill!”

  “Can’t we wait until I’ve had a few sips first?”

  “Nope, we don’t have much time and I want to hear everything.”

  “I want to hear, too,” Nicole chimed in.

  “You would know if you haven’t been ditching me to have sex for the past four nights.”

  “Yeah, yeah, we’ll fight about it later,” she said, wiggling her hand to brush me off.

  Over the years, Nicole and I had enjoyed our fair share of fights. Most of them were just misunderstandings when one of us was on the rag … actually, all of them were that. Even though she had ditched me on my birthday cruise, I wasn’t mad at her. Probably because of the man candy I had been fantasizing about since the very first night we talked into the wee hours.

  “He’s hot,” I said as though it was no big deal.

  “Yeah, we know that. I want to know why you’re all googly eyes over him?”

  “What are you talking about? I am not all “googly eyes” over him.”

  “You are too.”

  “No, I’m not.”

  “Chauna, can’t you tell that my sister has the hots for Easton?”

  “I’m sorry Brooke, but she’s right.”

  The waitress placed our pitcher on the table, and then asked if we needed anything else. When we declined, she left us so that I could continue being interrogated by the Googly Police.

  “You know they’re right. Avery and I see it, too,” Nicole said, pouring a glass of the margarita and then placing it front of me.

  I took a sip. “Well of course I have the hots for him. He’s fucking hot and the sweetest guy I’ve ever met.”

  “I knew it!” Bailee shouted a little too loud.

  “Tell them about the private island and zip-lining.”

  “Private island?” Bailee asked, raising her eyebrows.

  “A private island with like fifty other people, including you and Avery.”

  “I want to hear more,” Bailee said, not letting it go.

  “The four of us—including other people from the cruise—took a small boat to a private island when we ported in Puerto Vallarta. No big deal. We ate lunch, snorkeled and swam with a sea lion named Cassandra.”

  “That’s not what I mean, Brooke,” Nicole said.

  “You don’t even know what you’re talking about. You were too busy dry humping Avery the whole time.”

  “There was more than dry humping if you know what I mean.” She winked. “But tell them how he never left your side to go talk to any other girl. Tell them how he hasn’t done that the whole time we’ve been on the cruise.”

  “He likes you, too!” Bailee said, a little too loud again.

  “No, he doesn’t.” I drained the rest of my glass, fighting off brain freeze. I reached for the pitcher to give myself a refill. I needed it to calm my nerves. No way could a player like Easton like someone with a boyfriend. It was in their nature to go find a piece of ass to fuck—but he hadn’t yet.

  “He totally does. Tell me about zip-lining,” Bailee said.

  I looked at Chauna for help, but she too was engrossed in my imaginary love story. “We went zip-lining in Mazatlán. Does anyone else want some chips?” I asked, trying to get out of my seat. Nicole grabbed my arm, not letting me move.

  “Tell me, Brooke,” my sister said.

  “Fine. We went zip-lining and on the way there, I was practically shitting myself. You know I’m scared of heights. I kept thinking to myself “a string is all that is going to hold you up while you zip through the jungle”. I was panicking.”

  “She was,” Nicole agreed.

  “Fuck you!” Everyone laughed. “Anyway, we get there and I start to chicken out. I’m standing on the platform, looking at the ground a million feet down and this bitch here,” I said, lightly punching Nicole’s arm, “is shouting from the bottom for me to “hurry the fuck up”. I start to turn around to climb down the ladder and Easton grabs my shoulders with both hands, looks me dead in the eye and tells me, “From what you’ve told me these last few days and from what I’ve seen, you’re the strongest woman I know. If you can raise a six-year-old when you’re only thirteen—which is scary as hell—you can’t let a little trip on strong cables hold you back. Now get out there, Superwoman, and fly.”

  I looked at my sister and she was speechless. It looked as though she was on the verge of tears. Growing up was hard on both of us, but we’d survived. I didn’t feel like Superwoman, just a girl that had to grow up too fast and couldn’t just be a kid.

  “Anyway,” I continued, “he grabbed the straps of my helmet, snappe
d them together and then slapped my ass as I turned. Then—I flew.” I shrugged and took a sip of my drink.

  “Holy shit! I didn’t know he said that. I just saw the ass smacking. What the fuck?” Nicole questioned.

  “If you weren’t ditching me, we could be telling each other about our cruise that we’re supposed to be on together.” I stuck my tongue out at her and she rolled her eyes. She knew I was teasing her only because I was having a good time with Easton and Easton was right. I needed to take that leap. I was changing into a different woman and it was all because of him.

  We’d had to say our goodbyes and I was a little depressed. I missed my sister so much. She was the only family I had left. A few years ago, both of my grandparents in Arizona passed away. My grandmother first and then my grandfather about a year later. It was as if he died of a broken heart.

  I wanted to find a love like that. A love that would last for sixty years.

  Once we were back on the cruise ship, nothing changed from the previous five nights. After dinner, Nicole and Avery left to go bang so Easton and I took in a comedy show. It wasn’t that great, but it was good to spend more time with him. It was like we were on a really long first date. No holding hands, no kissing, and no relieving the pent-up sexual tension.

  Just one more day, one more night and then home free so I can think!

  The last six days had flown by and now Nicole and I were in her room getting ready for the Black Tie Masquerade Ball. It was like the prom where everyone invited their favorite person to be their date. Of course, Nicole was going with Avery and I was going with Easton. I couldn’t wait to see him in a tux. Every man looked hot dressed up.

  I had picked out a teal, strapless, floor-length, satin evening gown with a bandage waist that wrapped around and then flowed down to the floor. I twirled, causing it to blossom around me like a flower.

  “I feel like I’m eighteen again,” I said as Nicole watched and laughed with me.

  “I know, right?”

  Nicole was dressed in a scarlet semi-strapless, floor-length evening gown. It had a triangle halter that wrapped around her neck. She paired it with gold cuffs and gold ankle strapped stilettos.

  I didn’t wear any jewelry other than diamond princess cut studs. I pulled my hair back, twisting it and pinning it in place. Nicole straightened her hair and then we helped each other tie our masks around our heads, covering the straps with our hair.

  My mask was made out of black plastic with round black sequins around the edge of the face. In the center of the forehead, silver round sequins and crystals came together to make a flower with twelve-inch feathers extending from the top. Nicole’s mask was similar to mine but white with gold and no feather.

  “Ready?” I asked, giving a big sigh. The night was bittersweet. While we had been looking forward to going to the ball, it was the last night we would spend with the guys and I didn’t know what my future would hold with Easton.

  “Yep. Remember, no matter what happens, I will see you here tomorrow at nine in the morning.”

  “Got it,” I said, opening the door.

  The ship was due to arrive in Los Angeles at seven and we were told that each cabin would be called in groups. Our flight back to Boston was leaving at one in the afternoon and Nicole wouldn’t have time to fuck around with Avery.

  I opened the door fully and Easton and Avery were walking towards us. I met Easton’s cornflower eyes and crooked smile and I took a deep breath, calming myself. I was going to miss him.

  The greatest relationships are the ones that you never expect. The ones that test you; the ones that make you a better person and challenge how you thought your life would be.

  Easton showed me that a man could care for a woman. Granted, he had gone through a life changing experience to understand that a woman deserves someone like that. But even if he was unsuccessful once, the right man could change. Easton was showing me that it was okay to let my guard down, to be myself and love with no regrets.

  People are brought into our lives for many reasons. Over time, we find out what those reasons are. Some are to be a temporary acquaintance while others are there for life. Dana was in Easton’s life as a temporary acquaintance. She’d made him a better person by giving him Cheyenne. It didn’t turn out as they had planned, but that was life. You never know when it will be your last day, so live with no regrets. Love with no regrets. It’s better to know what would happen than wondering what could have happened.

  Just—fly!

  As I stared at his baby blues, I thought about a quote I had read not long ago:

  “It’s easy to look at people and make quick judgments about them, their presents and their pasts, but you’d be amazed at the pain and tears a single smile hides. What a person shows to the world is only one tiny facet of the iceberg hidden from sight. And more often than not, it’s lined with cracks and scars that go all the way to the foundation of their soul. Never judge, learn to respect and acknowledge the feelings of another.” –Unknown

  I was hiding the way Jared really made me feel.

  I was hiding how bad my shoulder pain really was.

  I was hiding. Period.

  I was hoping that both things would work themselves out, but the more Easton talked to me about me, he was breaking down those walls.

  Easton has had his fair share of tears in his life with Dana dying. At first, I judged him as a player, but really, he was hiding his pain from everyone as well. We both needed more in our lives and we were challenging each other to open up and show our true selves and not care if the other person would run for the hills. The right person won’t run. They love you for you.

  Easton and I weren’t running.

  “You look—wow,” he said.

  “Thank you. You look very handsome. Where’s your mask?”

  He pulled a small black leather mask from his pocket, dangled with his finger and then asked for me to help put it on him. I did as Nicole helped Avery.

  Avery was dressed like Easton in a black and white standard tuxedo. If it weren’t for the shade of their hair, it would be hard to tell them apart with the masks on—but I wasn’t watching Avery; my attention was only on Easton.

  We walked into the ballroom. Music blared from speakers and neon lights bounced off the surface as people danced in the dimly lit room. We took our place on the dance floor, moving to the beat. People danced around us, making out and practically having sex on the dance floor. If Be My Baby by the Ronettes were playing, it would be like the opening credits of Dirty Dancing.

  Over the night, we lost track of Nicole and Avery, but I assumed they were in the room, enjoying their final night together on the cruise. No one knew what real life would be like once we were off the ship.

  I stole glances at Easton as we danced. We both smiled, enjoying each other for one more night. I didn’t want it to end.

  What fairy tale do you ever want to end?

  “You know this isn’t goodbye, right?” Easton whispered in my ear.

  I leaned back, looking into his eyes. “I know,” I nodded.

  But what if it was goodbye? What if Easton was my temporary acquaintance?

  For the past fifteen years of my life, I had been hiding my feelings with sex. When I was a horny teenager, I hid the anger I felt when fighting with my parents, the anger from losing baseball games, and when I failed classes by fooling around with chicks. Sex was my way to get my mind off everything that caused stress in my life.

  When Dana and I got married, most of the reason why I cheated on her was because we fought all the time. We weren’t meant to be together, but I felt stuck because we had Cheyenne and I wanted to give her the perfect family. I was a fuck up who turned to sex and women to forget about Dana and my peanut; to forget about making the perfect family.

  The day Dana died, I called my attorney and met her at her house while my parents and Cheyenne slept at mine. I fucked her to hide the hurt I was feeling with Dana dying and leaving me to raise Cheyenne on my ow
n. I fucked her to hide the anger I had toward the old man who’d ran the red light and plowed into her. I fucked her to forget for thirty minutes—but that’s as long as it lasted. Allison and I kept our relationship going until the day I moved to New York. And by relationship, I mean we fucked. She thought we were a couple, but I knew all along that she was temporary. I didn’t want another wife; I just needed to hide my pain.

  By the time Cheyenne and I moved to New York, my heart was healing, but I was still hiding my feelings and stress by hooking up with chicks. I didn’t always fuck them, but I always got off. I needed the release and the distraction. I didn’t have a job when we moved and I was stressed about money and providing for my peanut.

  Foreplay and orgasms made me forget.

  I had never gone more than seven nights without a blow job or at least a hand job. There was always someone I could find to suck my dick, but these last six days I hadn’t needed to hide anything. Brooke didn’t make me forget; she helped me see how my life should be and how I was selfish for not raising Cheyenne in a stable household.

  My life should have Brooke in it—forever.

  Of course, having her sleeping in the same room as me was killing my morning wood. I woke up every day to Brooke’s green eyes. She would catch me staring at her—or I’d catch her staring at me, and then she would smile. Fuck, her smile made my dick hard every time. I was going crazy. My head wouldn’t stop talking to me about how the cruise was coming to an end and Brooke may walk out of my life forever. Who knows what Avery and Nicole would end up doing, but I needed Brooke in my life. She was turning into my best friend, but there was something in my heart that knew I needed her to be more. I couldn’t go back to New York and never show her how much I wanted her. I didn’t want her just for sex and I was trying every day to show her that I wanted more, but I really didn’t know how to show her. I hadn’t been in a committed relationship in a long time, but she had opened up my eyes to show me what I had been missing.