Chapter 23
“I don’t know. Maybe I just gotta swear off women,” Axel groused as we packed our nasty gym clothes into duffle bags. After a whopping six months, he and his most recent flame fizzled out, and he was less than pleased at the prospect of getting back in the game.
“Famous last words,” I declared, smirking over at Jameson, who scowled because it was true.
“Maybe stop dating women half your age,” he suggested, stuffing his hoodie deeper into the black space and sliding the zipper closed.
“Christ, dude, they’re not half my age. I’m not a pedo.”
“Just saying–did you meet this last one in homeroom?”
“What can I say? Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Worked out just fine for you and Rhyett.”
“First, the apple thing is for kids, not brothers. Second, fucking watch it,” Jameson growled. But Axel’s jab earned a round of laughs from Charlie and Jake.
“Don’t give him a complex,” I muttered, slinging my bag over my shoulder and palming the basketball from where it sat on the wood bench. “Took a great deal of effort to make Noel stick.” There’s honorable and then there’s insufferable. Jameson was so bent out of shape about the eight-year difference he almost threw away the best thing that ever happened to him. Last thing I wanted was these bozos making him second guess that, so I opted to redirect their focus. Turning on Jake, I asked, “What about you–any prospects on the horizon?”
“Gotta be looking to have prospects. Haven’t bothered to look since…I dunno, Sterling was born?”
All of us halted, collectively turning to pin him under incredulous eyes. At five-foot-eleven, Jake was the smallest of the group. While he possessed those signature Rhodes eyes, their youngest cousin had light brown hair, olive skin, and a baby face. It was Axel to vocalize the collective thought.
“I mean, I knew it had been a minute. But…you haven’t dated in seven years?”
Fidgeting under our focus, he shrugged. “I mean, a couple of hookups.”
“You’re not even thirty,” I pointed out.
“And the dating scene blows. Women are fucking crazy.”
All of us weighed his words before turning for the door as Jameson muttered, “The good ones are out there. Might have to go off island to find one we’re not related to, though.”
I snorted, shaking my head. “In your case, that’s true. You Rhodes pop up like rabbits.”
“How about you, teach?” Charlie asked as we walked through the open free weight space. “Haven’t heard you talk about Sarah in a few weeks. You doing alright?”
Smiling as I realized I hadn’t so much as thought about my ex since Vegas, I smiled and said, “Never better,” and pushed open the door to the daycare so we could spring Sterling and June out of baby jail. With the woman behind that ‘never better’ in mind, I suggested, “Anybody else need a cup of coffee?”
One thingI’d always loved about El was her capacity to dive so deeply into her focus that a war could start while she was working, and she wouldn’t even know. She never even bothered to look up as the seven of us came into the Grizzly Grind, Rhyett’s coffee shop on the harbor, and made our way to the counter to order. Kara, the sweet little blonde behind the counter, beamed down at Sterling and June as they bounced on their toes, blushing a little when she looked up at Jake and Charlie. She held her shit together, though, which I always thought was admirable.
“Hey, guys! What can I get for you?”
We rattled off our orders one at a time, but it wasn’t until I stepped up to the counter and into El’s periphery that her head snapped up, her smile stretching wide before she waved enthusiastically at the other four. “Long time no see,” she quipped. “A whole twelve hours, and you’re all back together. Why am I not shocked?”
“Thought we’d burn off those mashed potatoes of yours,” I said, leaning an elbow onto the bar to prop myself up.
She canted her head before asking, “Basketball morning?”
“Yeah, took a steam after,” Axel added. Nobody else seemed to notice her eyes flick to me.
“You in here working on a holiday weekend, El?” Charlie said, grinning. “Leave the no personal life up to first responders, cuz.”
“No rest for the wicked,” she chirped, standing and stretching out her back before squatting down to talk to the kids. The guys were chattering about Paxton’s game yesterday, but I was stuck, mesmerized by Elora.
Our orders came out at the same time, and I lifted my to-go cup in salute. “Good bumping into you,” I said as the guys finished taking turns giving her big bear hugs.
“As always,” she said back, fighting that smile teasing the corners of her lips. “What else is on the agenda today?”
“Eh, we’re all taking off, heading home,” Jameson said with a hand on her shoulder.
“Grabbing groceries to make Grandma’s curry tonight, then try to be in bed by eight,” I said, hoping I achieved some sense of nonchalance.
“Nice, nice,” she said, patting her brothers on the back as she walked our huddle to the door. The guys all filed onto the street, but as I walked past her, she said, “Can I bump into you again later?”
“In a town this small?” I smirked in her direction as I stepped onto the sidewalk. “Inevitable, don’t you think?” Fuck me. Her smile took my breath away.
“Inevitable.”
Elora
Five days weren’t enough.I’d been well aware that it wouldn’t be when I’d booked my flights, but it didn’t make it any easier to wake up in Broderick’s arms Monday morning, knowing our stolen days were over. From movie nights to his family’s century old South African curry recipe that brought tears to my eyes and made me sweat a waterfall, to a Sunday brunch whipped up on that magnificent island, with his arms around my waist, it was the cruelest blink at bliss.
Then it was over.
We couldn’t even share a proper goodbye, because the town was too damn small to get away with it. So, I begrudgingly allowed Jameson to drive me to the airport and brushed off his concerns about my panicked resting bitch face as he set my suitcase on the scale. He’d wrapped me up in a great bear hug before holding me at arms length.
“You’re welcome home any time, El. You know that, right?”
“Yeah,” I said, nodding and trying to ignore the stinging at the bridge of my nose. Home. Home was six feet of long, lean muscle and rich brown skin, a laugh that carved a grin on my face, and a breathtaking smile that lit my core on fire. “Yeah, I do. Thanks, James.”
He stooped, like he could compensate for being six-foot-four. “You sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah,” I said, mustering a smile and a nod. “I get to see Pax when I’m in Chicago in a couple of weeks. That’ll be nice.”
“Yeah,” he said, but the pinch in between his brow said I hadn’t convinced him. Hug him for me.”
“Will do.”
“Fly safe, El.”
Mara
Awe, poor bébé is homesick?
Elora
God, I never knew how people could miss a place until now.
It wasn’t so muchthe place as the man living within it, but with Hadlee on this thread, I decided I should probably keep my mouth shut. Three people in the know was likely three too many.
Alice
I miss everyone so much it makes me nauseous. Captain Hartless is on a terror.
Greyson Hart wasa ruthless mid-thirties media mogul, and Alice had bestowed a handful of less than flattering nicknames over the last two years working for him, including ‘Hartless’ or when he was being spectacularly dickish, ‘Captain Hartless’, ‘The Fire-breathing Dragon’, and my personal favorite; ‘Mr. Ass Face’.
Max
And now you’re all so scattered it’s costing me a small fortune to bounce around to see everyone.
Mara
Hold on, let me call an ambulance for Mr. Whines A Lot.
Max
What? It was easy when all fourteen of them were on one rock.
Mara
Poor little rich boy has family all over the country to stay with.
Max
Little salty there, Mara?
Mara
Nate is teething. There is no sleep to be had. I need a vacation. And a fifth of tequila.
Alice
You know where you can find a state-of-the-art spa resort?
Elora
Hmmm. IDK, maybe Emerald Bay?
Alice
PLEASE come visit me. The Harts own one uptown and I can get us in at forty percent cost.
Elora
Like hosting the twins aren’t enough people in one apartment.
Alice
The dragon has depleted my dopamine so sufficiently, I gotta chase any hit I can get. Starting with your cute asses on my couch watching a LOTR movie marathon with sea salt and caramel chocolate ice cream and mashed potatoes.
Mara
Po-Tay-Toes.
Max
Weird combination. I’ll allow it.
Hadlee
You’re all obnoxious. Do you realize there are four hundred and sixty-eight notifications on this text thread?
Max
How nice of you to grace us with your presence, Hads.
Hadlee
I’ve been boon-docking!
Max
Why?
Mara
Apocalypse preparedness training?
Elora
Hads is a minimalist.
Hadlee
Experiences over things is my MO.
Max
Welcome back to the land of the living.
Hadlee
Thanks. First stop is a bathtub.
Elly, why so homesick?
Max
Yeah, Elly. Why so homesick?
God,I missed Broderick. Had been missing him even more since leaving Mistyvale nearly two weeks ago. He was like a phantom limb, an omnipresent ache for a piece of me that was never there when I went reaching for it. Yeah, we talked every night and texted all day—hell; we spent the evenings watching the same movies or playing the same music. But it wasn’t the same thing as waking up in his arms on those stolen days back home. He was meeting me here on Saturday night, and we’d go watch Pax play Sunday together, shielded by the family box and thousands of fans.
I never thought I wouldn’t want to take another speaking gig, but fuck, having to say goodbye to him again was even worse than Las Vegas. By my fourth year on the speaking circuit, I’d learned to make my presence dependent on my comfort—flat water instead of sparkling, and the right coffee and snacks in a private dressing room, or hotel room on site, where I could run through my breathing exercises, visualization, and rehearsal before stepping out on stage or in front of a boardroom.
When I first started, I would’ve labeled them weird asks or a prima donna attitude, but I was good at what I did, and deserved the space, tools and reinforcement to deliver the information at my full power. It was only there that I could serve my clients in the way they deserved, anyway.
Men were never second guessed when they had specific requests, and yet women always were. That’s what we needed to change.
This company was woman owned, and—low and behold—didn’t bat an eye at my signature ‘weird asks’. As a matter of fact, they’d been prepared for it, and even had a welcome basket with my favorite juice and cute little mini muffins when I got there. I’d happily given them an extra half hour of Qamp;A time before we dismissed the meeting. Their hospitality played into my nonchalance when I saw the flowers and a card sitting on my bedside table when I got back from the presentation.
It was only when I noticed they were daisies, rather than some kind of ostentatious roses or a mix, that I hesitated. The Leaning Tower of Pizza postcard finally sent my heart sprinting.
I flippedover the postcard to see his hastily written note, a smile on my face just seeing my name in his handwriting.
Dear Elora,
I watched the most beautiful woman present on stage today. She took my breath away.
Congratulations on another legendary speech, Pix.
Answer the door.
Brod
Heart in my throat,I flipped it back and forth, like more of an explanation would somehow appear, but then two solid knocks sounded on the door. I laughed when a familiar voice called, “Room service!”
Shaking my head, I bolted for the door, throwing it open and nearly sobbing as I hurled my arms around his neck. Broderick staggered back a step as he caught me, wrapping me up tightly in those corded arms and chuckling as he buried his face in my hair.
“Hey baby,” he husked. “You were brilliant today.”
“What are you doing here!?” I squeaked.
“Couldn’t miss my girl on stage in the Windy City.”
“You weren’t supposed to be here until Saturday!”
“Got big plans, Pix?” He chuckled, squeezing me tighter before unspooling our limbs.
“Porn and a pint of ice cream.”
“What?!” He barked, eyes shooting wide as his brows flew up to his hairline. God, it was fun to make him squirm. “You were going to sit and watch porn with ice cream?”
“Sir, I am a lady. I don’t watch porn.” I leveled him with a glare as his eyes narrowed on me.
“No,” he said, smirking. “But you read it.”
“Guilty,” I chirped. “Some good inspiration in there.”
“Oh, I’ve heard.”
“Have you now?”
“Evidently Rhyett has reaped the benefits.”
Wrinkling my nose, I stuck out my tongue, making a gagging sound. “Ew, raging lady boner instantly vanquished.”
He stifled a laugh, mock scolding over every inch of his face as he said, “He’s got a baby. Do we need to have the talk, El?”
“Vaguely knowing my brothers screw like bunnies and thinking about it are two very different things.” I latched onto his arm, yanking him inside my room and kicking the door closed in the same motion. “Now. Back to the subject at hand. How are you here!? Don’t you have classes?”
“Even professors get sick, Pix.” He mock-coughed into his fist twice.
A manic laugh burst from my throat, my hand slapping over my mouth as I watched that gorgeous smile of his grow. “Are you sick, professor?”
That grin hit blinding proportions and I couldn’t help but mirror it. “I’m elated to say it’s terminal.”
My heart did thrilled little pancake flops, at the idea of this thing between us being a lifelong sentence. Did he mean that? It took all my focus to quip back, “Is it contagious? Should I be worried about you infecting my team?”
“Nah baby,” he said, snaking a hand around my waist and pulling me into him, a now familiar warmth saturating my senses. “This fever is just for you and me.”
“Cheeeeeesy line, sir.”
“But did it work?” he asked with a chuckle, voice now low with promise that rippled goosebumps down my arms.
“Maybe,” I breathed back, wrapping my arms around his neck as he lowered his mouth to mine.
Fumblingthe back of my earring into place, my eyes flicked up to Broderick, now freshly showered, as he came back into the room. He had a knack for planning our evenings, and I wasn’t even a little mad about it. Frankly, it was nice to not be the only person capable of making a decision for once. We were going to eat at the Leaning Tower of Pizza and then to watch a movie. Regardless, I’d opted for a cute fitted long sleeve black dress, and furry boots beneath my winter coat.
One broad hand came up to rub over his mouth as his eyes scraped over me. “I ever tell you that you’re painfully gorgeous?”
“Not nearly enough,” I teased, eyes dropping to my feet as he stepped in closer.
“I intend to remedy that immediately.” He set those warm palms on either side of my hips, giving me a little squeeze as he leaned down to nip at the lobe I’d just stuck an earring in. His breath over my ear sent an anticipatory chill down my spine. “Regretting this whole going out thing.”
“We don’t have to,” I whispered back, bringing my palm up to settle against his cheek as I nuzzled against him.
“As tempting as that is, my girl deserves to be properly courted.”
“Courted?” I giggled. “Tell me, will you present Milo with one pig or two?”
Broderick groaned, leaning into my cheek. “Oh, man.”
“What?” I asked, turning in his arms to bring our foreheads together. “I’ve been so anxious about telling your brothers that I didn’t even think about needing to talk to Milo.”
My dad, much like Jameson, was a big teddy bear under a six-foot-four exterior. But there’s something about a sun-weathered Captain, subject only to the sea, that makes people cower. Maybe it was the towering frame, or that men go missing in the storms every year, but knowing him for who he was, I couldn’t wrap my head around them all being intimidated by him.
I straightened Broderick’s sleek blue tie before running my palms down the slick heather gray vest and giving him a pat. “Of all the men that could proposition his daughter, you’re the only one I could see him being thrilled with.”
“I don’t think you understand how men operate, baby.”
“Don’t get me wrong, he’s a dad at his core, which essentially means that nobody will ever be good enough for his kids, but…as far as prospects go, I’m more than confident in mine.”
Expression melting into something like affection, he brought those warm palms to cradle either side of my face, pressing a light kiss to my forehead as he murmured, “Thanks, Pix. I hope to earn his blessing in this. Which means we can’t hide forever.”
Anxiety stirred in my chest, because as long as this was our little secret, I could revel in the emotions of it, in the bliss of it. But the moment I shared him with my family, the moment we became an ‘us,’ this would be… real. And we would be subject to their scrutiny. I loved my family. Truly, I did. But thirteen other very loud opinions were thirteen too many.
“I know,” was all I breathed back.
“Any intention of breaking our silence soon?”
“Maybe.”
“The longer we wait, the worse it will be if somebody finds out by accident, baby.”
“And the faster we tell them, the faster this stops being our personal escape, because it will be everybody’s god damn business,” I blurted back. Knowing curved the lines of his mouth, the warm brown skin around his eyes crinkling.
“Like keeping me your dirty little secret?”
“Nothing little about you.”
“First up—damn straight and don’t you forget it. Second—then we gotta have a plan, baby. It’s only a matter of time before one of us slips up.”
“Excuse me, sir, I am a vault,” I said with mock insult, miming locking up my lips and tossing away the key. The no nonsense deadpan he gave me said he didn’t believe me as far as he could throw me.
“And Max? Alice? Mara? How long will they keep this close to the vest?”
Groaning, I buried myself in the crook of his neck, soaking in his scent, wishing I could just hide myself in this lovely little bubble of ours. “I know. Okay. So… soon, okay?”
He scowled down at his watch, tapping the face with a perplexed furrow to his brow. I narrowed my eyes at him.
“What are you doing?”
“Looking for soon between eleven and noon.”
“Oh boy,” I muttered, disentangling and grabbing his hand. Leading him to the door, I rolled my eyes as the man continued.
“I could check my calendar. There might be a month I’m not aware of. Or a national holiday I missed?”
“Very funny.” The hotel door clicked shut behind us, the lock buzzing into place as we walked away, Broderick trailing in my wake.
“Secret day of the week?”
“You’re hilarious.”
Chuckling to himself, he followed me down the hallway to the fire escape stairs. We were greeted by crisp air—seriously, I could almost see my breath in there—and the creak of ungreased hinges. It was the moment the heavy metal door clanged shut behind us that Broderick pulled me back against him and spun us, caging me in against the icy wall of the secluded stairwell, planting a knee between my legs to pin me in place. My breath halted as he towered over me, a forearm propped above my head in a way that saturated all of my senses. Those dark eyes held a seriousness in contrast to the smile playing on his luscious lips.
“I’ll play your games, El, because I meant what I said. You’re the ultimate prize life could ever give me.” He brushed my hair away from my face, eyes tracking where my throat bobbed before he slid just his thumb down the line of my jaw. The pad of his finger grazed over my bottom lip before gently pressing it down. I fought back the need to suck his finger into my mouth like some kind of feral animal in heat. As his eyes found their way back to mine, I rolled that lip between my teeth. “But this is questionable territory we’re treading in. And a man is nothing without his integrity, so I’m asking you again; when can I honor mine? Your brothers. Your dad. Mama Juniper. They all deserve to hear this from us.”
I could feel the rapid-fire tap of my heartbeat hammering in my throat as his now-flat palm brushed down my cheek, my jaw, bracketing my neck as his thumb hovered over the pulse point. Breath coming in tight little inhales under his intoxicating proximity, I nodded. Who the fuck knew that integrity could be so damn sexy?
“You’ll make a plan?” he pressed, those brown eyes narrowing slightly.
Still nodding, like that was all my brain remembered how to do, I breathed, “I’ll make a plan.”
“Good girl.” He dropped a reassuring kiss to my lips as my core went molten, rendering me barely capable of kissing him back. Somehow, he breathed life back into me before pulling back with a sweet smile in place. “Let’s go eat.”
Without further ado, the man returned the air to my lungs when he whooshed away from me, leading me down the concrete stairs with echoing steps without another word.
“God,I forgot how damn good this place is.”
“You didn’t oversell it,” Broderick said, grinning as he wiped his hands on a napkin. He was adorably out of place in the greasy little pizza joint—wearing his classy button-up shirt and vest—and yet somehow so GQ he pulled it off.
“The wax pizza tower is lame, albeit practical.”
“Totally lame. But it would be ethically appalling to remake the tower on a regular basis.”
“Obviously.” Rolling my eyes, I finally slid my plate away in surrender. “Suddenly, I’m not so mad about that movie tonight.”
“I think I’d get a side ache if we adjourned any sooner.”
I smiled, glancing across the bustling restaurant and reveling in the chaos surrounding our circle of ease. There was something spectacularly comfortable about dating someone I knew on such an intimate level—a friend who knew all about my ugliness and celebrated the beauty anyway—compared to the prolonged unease around dating strangers. We didn’t have to fight to impress each other. Didn’t have to pretend a romp in the sheets after eating our body weight in cheese sounded like an enjoyable experience.
Broderick had seen me at my worst—hell, he’d ridden in like a dark knight in shining armor to salvage my prom night when I was stood up—and at my peaks. There wasn’t a part of me he didn’t already know. Which meant enjoying time together was just that. Enjoyable. Effortless.
At least, it was until my eyes snagged on graying blonde hair and a familiar face across the restaurant. “No fucking way,” I muttered, my mouth hanging open as my feet fell to the floor from where I’d perched them on the foot of Broderick’s chair.
“What?” he mumbled, glancing over his shoulder in the direction I’d been gaping in a most unladylike manner.
“Don’t look,” I hissed. “Mrs. Anderson is here.”