Suck My Puck (Denver Bashers Series #3)

24. Braden

Chapter 24

Braden

“ Y ou didn’t have to wait for me to finish my shift,” Bella says as she pulls on her coat.

Earlier Bella mentioned that she took a rideshare to work because her best friend’s husband was borrowing her car to haul some baby furniture for their new nursery. Her plan was to call an Uber or Lyft to get home, but I told her I’d wait and drive her home. Yeah, rideshares are fine for the most part, but she’s a woman alone late at night, in a car with a stranger. Just thinking about anything happening to her sets off an ugly feeling in my gut.

Together we walk out of the bar. “No way am I going to let you go home by yourself this late,” I say while holding the door open for her.

She smiles at me. “Holding doors and driving me home from work and fun times in bed? You’re the perfect man.”

I laugh. We walk down the street where my car is parked. We pass a trendy whiskey bar at the end of the block, right as Xander stumbles out the door, clearly drunk. Theo and Maya walk out after him, shaking their heads and chuckling .

We stop walking and I look at Xander. “I thought you guys left to go home already?”

Theo pats Xander’s shoulder. “This guy wanted one more drink before we dropped him off at home,” Theo says.

“One drink turned into three,” Maya says.

“My trainer only lets me drink one night a week now,” Xander says. “I gotta live it up.”

Xander takes a step, trips over a crack in the sidewalk, and starts to fall, but Theo grabs him, propping him up.

“Damn, dude,” I say to Xander. “Went a little too hard tonight, huh?”

Xander slow-blinks and laughs. “Yeah. I guess I did.”

Theo grabs Xander’s arm and hooks it over his shoulder. I take Xander’s other side and offer to walk him to Theo’s car.

“Where are you parked?” I ask.

Maya points to their car, which is on the street a dozen feet away.

Theo and I walk Xander to the SUV. Maya unlocks the car and holds open the door for us.

I groan as I help get Xander into the car. “Dude, you weigh a ton.”

“Do not.”

Bella and Maya laugh as they watch us.

“That’s right. Laugh it up, ladies,” Xander says.

“It’s a shame your fiancee had to leave right after the game to catch a red-eye to New York for a sports medicine conference. She’s missing out on how adorable you look right now,” Maya teases.

Xander flashes a drunk grin. “Sophie says I’m cute when I’m drunk.”

Theo pats his shoulder. “Yep. You’re so cute, bro. ”

We all burst out laughing. When we finish getting him in the car, Theo turns to me.

“Thanks for your help,” he says.

“No problem. Will you be able to help him into his place by yourself?” I ask.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.”

We say good-bye to Maya and Theo, and they hop in their car. I lean down to buckle Xander’s seatbelt for him and go to close the door.

He stops me. “Hey, man. I just wanna say one thing.”

“What?”

“That’s messed up what your dad said about you on that podcast. Really messed up. Screw him.”

He leans back in his seat and passes out. I know he means well, but just hearing Xander mention my dad feels like a punch to the gut.

I close the car door and they drive off. When I turn around, I see Bella giving me a sad look.

I shove my hands in my pockets and step over to her.

“Your dad said something about you on a podcast?” she asks, her voice soft.

I nod, then start walking to my car in silence, not wanting to say more. Bella doesn’t speak as she walks next to me.

I open the passenger door for her, close it, then round the car to the driver’s side. As I drive to my apartment building, we’re both quiet.

I ease to a stop at a red light. Tension racks my body. I know I should say something. Bella can tell I’m upset. I bet I seem like a moody teenager not wanting to talk about it. She probably thinks I’m acting like a baby.

I huff out a heavy breath, wondering what I should even say to explain myself.

But then, she reaches over and grabs my hand from my lap, holding it in both of hers.

I glance down at our joined hands, thankful for the warmth and comfort of her touch. The tension inside of me starts to ease.

When I look up at her, the tenderness in her eyes catches me off guard.

This time when I let out a breath, it feels like I’m releasing all the stress in my body. And that’s when I realize that Bella gets it. She understands I don’t want to talk about what’s bothering me. And she somehow knew that the most helpful thing she could do is hold my hand in hers, letting me know that she’s here for me.

I lean over and press a soft kiss to her lips. “Thank you,” I whisper.

Her beautiful mouth curves up in the gentlest smile.

The light turns green and I speed ahead to my apartment. The whole drive, she holds my hand in hers. Warmth spreads from my joined hands, up my arms, all over me.

When I make it to the parking garage of my apartment building, I pull into my spot and kill the engine. For a second, I just sit there, relishing the warmth of Bella’s hands holding mine.

“You probably think I’m being so weird right now,” I say.

“I don’t.” She says it without missing a beat. “I get it. Sometimes talking is the last thing you want to do when you’re upset. Sometimes you just want to sit in your feelings quietly.”

I nod. “Yeah. Exactly.”

She gives my hand a gentle squeeze. “Maizie missed you today.”

I crack a smile and look at Bella. “She did? ”

“Yeah. You left your hoodie on my couch and she’s been curled up napping on it all day.”

I chuckle. It feels good to do that. “I need to see this.”

Bella smiles. “Let’s go.”

We climb out of my car and walk through the parking garage to the elevators. When we make it to our floor, I follow Bella inside her apartment. She flips on the lights and I see Maizie curled into a ball on top of my Bashers hoodie.

I’m grinning so wide, my cheeks hurt.

“So cute, right?” Bella says.

“Ridiculously cute.” I walk over to Maizie, who’s snoring softly. I give her a soft pet on the head. She doesn’t move. “She’s out cold.”

“She feels so cozy and comfortable with your clothes.”

“Or maybe she likes the smell of my BO.”

Bella bursts out laughing. “Hey, are you hungry?”

“A little.”

“You want something sweet?”

“Yeah, what do you have?”

She opens her freezer door and pulls out a container of vanilla ice cream. When she sets it on her kitchen island, that’s when I notice the bananas sitting in the bowl.

“Banana split?”

A wide grin pulls at my lips. “You have stuff to make a banana split?”

She nods and pulls out jars of hot fudge, caramel, and maraschino cherries from her fridge. She smiles at me, those cute-as-fuck dimples on full display. “You’ve got me hooked.”