Chapter 16
Don’t talk to her when she’s overstimulated. She’ll hurt your feelings.
— Athena to Auden
AUDEN
“ Did you know that if you hold your closed fist out to a girl, she’s automatically going to think it’s a bug?”
I looked at my younger brother, Garrett . “ No .”
“ Try it.” He jerked his chin toward where Ellodie was standing next to Quaid .
Their daughter, Peyson , was in her arms.
It’d been a whole two years since their first, Cam , a little boy who was hell on wheels, was born. Within a year, they’d been pregnant again with Peyson and Leyson .
Pey and Ley were now three months old, but Pey was at that point in her life where nobody but her mother would do.
And since I liked to hold her, even if she cried when I did, I walked right up to Ellodie with a closed fist and said, “ Here , hold this so I can hold my favorite niece.”
“ You totally said the same thing about Dalia last week,” Quaid said.
“ Eww , is it a bug?” Ellodie asked, looking disgusted.
She did not reach her hand out, either.
I smirked and showed her my empty palm, then reached for her kid.
Pey immediately started crying.
I walked off with her, causing Quaid to snort, and gave her kisses as I did.
“ It’s okay, Pey ,” I said as I walked up to Quincy , who was holding Dalia , his daughter. “ Dalia , here, hold this.”
Dalia scrunched up her nose, but her eyes lit with excitement as she held out her hand and said, “ Is it a bug, Unca Audi ?”
I flashed her a grin, then twisted my hand around to show her my empty palm.
Her scowl was quick and fierce, just like her father’s.
“ Wude .” She pointed her finger at me. “ You owa me.”
I took her from Quincy , and the three of us walked over to the kiddie pool that was being set up by my father and Keene , my sister, Ande’s husband.
“ You got that almost finished?” I called out.
Keene rolled his eyes. “ If your mother hadn’t bought the biggest one in Costco , we might. But no, she has to buy this shit…” he looked at Dalia . “ Don’t tell your mother I said that.”
“ Said what?” Dalia asked innocently, batting those long eyelashes at him.
“ You just gonna let that baby cry?”
I froze at the sound of that sweet, sultry voice from behind me.
An hour ago, I’d left Maven in my room to shower and change, and honestly, I wasn’t sure she was going to make it out of my room with my entire family here. Yet , she’d surprised me once again.
I turned to find Maven behind me. “ I thought you might’ve fallen asleep.”
She scrunched up her nose. “ Well , about that.” She looked at the yard that was crawling with the Carters . “ I might’ve taken a wee bit of a nap. I’m sorry. But also, I told Pepper to head this way with our shop’s entire inventory for tomorrow. I don’t plan on going back. Also , Pepper’s here. That’s what woke me, her calling. Can I get your help bringing everything inside?”
“ Ewww , a nap?” Dalia sounded disgusted.
I set Dalia down on her feet and said, “ Go get your daddy. Let’s help Ms . Maven .”
Dalia took off like a shot, heading right for Quincy .
She hit him so hard he doubled over because her head went directly into his balls.
I winced and readjusted Peyson .
Peyson who had yet to stop yelling about how mad she was at not being in her mother’s arms.
“ Can I hold her?” Maven asked. “ Because this is literally breaking my heart right now.”
I rolled my eyes but gave the baby over.
The baby who abruptly stopped her crying the moment she was tucked into a pair of breasts.
“ You know,” I said as I watched Maven with my niece, “maybe I should just buy a set of fake boobs on Amazon and then she’ll like me.”
Maven snorted. “ Go empty Pepper’s car out, please.”
“ Yes , ma’am.” I winked, then caught up a few of my brothers and we went to empty the car.
Sure enough, the entire area was so filled with baked goods that it was practically stuffed to the gills.
Pepper helped carry everything in with us, and the second all of it was out, she flipped Atlas the bird and took off like her pants were on fire.
“ You need to stop being so mean,” my mom hissed.
“ What do you mean? Like as in nasty? Unkind ?” Dad asked.
Atlas shrugged. “ I have no clue what she’s on about.”
My lips quirked at his words.
I chose not to get into it, though, instead focusing on the woman with the baby.
The woman who was wearing my shirt and a tight pair of leggings that looked like they were made for her body.
The shirt was a dark army green, while the pants were a heathered gray.
The t-shirt fit so loose on her that she could get away with not wearing pants and be completely covered.
“ Where’d you get those pants?” I questioned.
“ Pepper ,” she whispered, turning so that I could see both her and Peyson’s face. “ She grabbed my emergency clothes from the bakery. I’ll run by tomorrow and get some more clothes, find more permanent living accommodations that’s not my place.”
Peyson was sound asleep, drooling so thoroughly that she was leaking between the valley of Maven’s breasts.
My stomach soured. “ You can stay here.”
She smiled sweetly at me, patting me on the chest. “ That’s awfully sweet of you, Auden . But we barely even know each other. We can’t go moving in with each other without even knowing each other first.”
She did have a point but…
“ How about until you find something more permanent, we beef up your security system at your house,” I suggested.
Ellodie came up in the midst of my suggestion and reached for Peyson . “ I’ll take her now. We’re headed to the house. Quaid says he has a stomachache, and hates pooping anywhere but at home.”
Maven laughed. “ He did not.”
“ These Carter boys are disgusting,” Ellodie admitted. “ They draw you in with their hotness, then destroy the romance the moment you get married and they don’t have to impress you anymore.”
My lips twitched as she walked away.
The moment we were alone, Maven said, “ You’d never do a thing like that, would you?”
“ I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t even go number two,” I lied.
Maven snickered and was just about to open her mouth to counter my words when my dad walked over, a worried look on his face.
“ Good news and bad news,” he said when he got close enough. “ Good news, I still have my job. Bad news, I’m expected in a meeting tomorrow at the butt crack of dawn to discuss this situation. Oh , and the chief expects you and me both.”
Maven stiffened.
I caught her hand, squeezing it lightly. “ It’s okay.”
She looked at me worriedly before saying, “ I’m not sure that you’re right, honey.”
“ I’m just gonna go water my plants,” I said. “ Make yourself at home.”
Everyone had left twenty minutes ago, and I was in desperate need of a shower and a beer. But I’d already missed watering everything early this morning, if I missed today completely, I’d have to get up way earlier than I wanted to get it done.
I’d held off on the beer while everyone was here, but I needed something to calm me down.
If I didn’t get control of my shit, I would be doing something with the woman across the room when I knew she wasn’t ready.
“ How about I do that?” she suggested. “ I saw you eyeing the shower earlier.”
My brows raised. “ You wouldn’t mind? It takes forever.”
“ I would love to,” she admitted. “ Go .”
I caught a beer and headed for the shower while she headed outside.
It took me ten minutes to get through my shower and my beer, and by the time I came back out, she was watering the lilies next to my driveway.
I watched from the window, sipping another beer, and fully admitted to myself that I got irrationally happy seeing a woman I’d had a thing for forever at my house, watering my freakin’ plants.
I was such a damn weirdo to find something like her watering my plants to be so goddamn sexy, but she was barefoot, scrunching her toes into the dirt. The sway of her hand watering the plants was making her tits, which were obviously bare underneath my t-shirt, sway with her movement.
I was so lost in thought as I watched her that I didn’t realize she’d turned and was now surveying me through the window until she started heading my way.
I forced my eyes up from her tits to see her staring at me with hunger in her gaze.
I swallowed hard and placed my half-empty beer down on the counter before turning to watch her walk inside.
She came in, a smile on her lips.
“ What are you staring at, Auden Carter ?” she asked curiously.
She and I both knew damn well what I’d been staring at.
I swallowed hard before saying, “ Sorry . I have no control.”
Her lips tipped up at the corners as she said, “ Is it horrible that someone who was supposed to be close to me died today, and all I can think about is licking those veins on your forearm?”
I looked down at my forearm, and sure enough I had a few veins popping.
“ I think that our mind does whatever it needs to during the coping process, and nothing is inherently wrong as long as we express it in a healthy way,” I admitted.
Her eyes went to my chest, then down to my bare toes.
“ Where am I sleeping tonight?” she asked. “ You took me to your room earlier but…”
I crossed my arms over my chest then leaned my hips against the counter. “ It’s early yet, isn’t it?”
She snorted. “ I get up before the sun most of the time. Kind of. Sometimes I’m a bit late to work when I can’t quite force myself out of bed. However , today I’m overly tired because I actually made it to work on time. I’d even gotten my pre-work done for the morning rush, too, so I wouldn’t have to get up early tomorrow. Not that that matters. I can’t go into work, because I know my dad will be there. And I want to give him a few days to cool off after…”
After her stepmother had passed away.
“ You can stay here tomorrow,” I suggested. “ And as long as you want. I have a spare bedroom.”
Or a bed that was big enough to fit her and me very comfortably.
Though I wasn’t going to pressure her into that.
I was going to be a nice, caring individual. Not a man who made her uncomfortable at one of the lowest points in her life.
She walked up to me, then patted me on the chest. “ You’re a good man, Auden Carter .”
My stomach flipped at her words. “ I try to be.”
When she stepped away, I caught her hand and led her to the spare bedroom that was sparsely furnished but had one hell of a great mattress.
“ This is the spare bedroom,” I said. “ If you need any more clothes before you can get some from your place, feel free to check out my closet and take anything you might need.”
Her shoulders drooped. “ Thank you, Auden .”
I tucked a stray lock of her hair behind her ear before saying, “ Night , darlin’.”
I left her standing in the doorway of her room, headed to mine, and softly closed the door.
Then , I fell face first into my bed and groaned into the pillow.
Being a good person sucked.
My dick was so hard from smelling her scent that it was embarrassing.
I closed my eyes and willed my body under control.
I was the master of my cock.
I would not lose control.